Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday smashed his 25th Test century on the third day of the second Test match between India and Australia in Perth and in the process became the second fastest to reach this milestone after Aussie great Don Bradman.
While Don Bradman had taken just 68 innings to score 25 hundreds in the longest format of the game, Virat Kohli took 127 Test innings to achieve the feat. Before Virat Kohli, the record to second fastest to 25 Test hundreds was with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
The stylish 30-year-old batsman has also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record as the fastest Indian to 25 centuries. Sachin Tendulkar has taken 130 Test innings to score 25 Test hundreds.
Here is the list of players who have taken fewest innings to 25 Test 100s:
Don Bradman (Australia) – 68 innings.
Virat Kohli (India) – 127 innings.
Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 130 innings.
Sunil Gavaskar (India) – 138 innings.
Matthew Hayden (Australia) – 139 innings.
Garfield Sobers (West Indies) – 147 innings.
On Sunday, Virat Kohli also edged past former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman to became the third player with most number of Test centuries against Australia, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
Here is the list of Indian players with most 100s for India vs Australia:
Sachin Tendulkar – 11
Sunil Gavaskar – 8
Virat Kohli – 7
VVS Laxman – 6
G Vishwanath/ Murali Vijay – 4
Virat Kohli’s Test century against Australia was also his 63rd hundred (Test -25, ODIs- 38, T20s- 0) in international cricket. Kohli on Sunday also equaled the record of Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara (Test -38, ODIs- 25) for the third most number of hundreds in international cricket.
The stylish Indian captain is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (100 century – Test 51, ODIs 49) and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting (71 century—Test 41, ODIs, 30) for the maximum number of century in international cricket.
Virat Kohli Test century in Perth was also his second slowest hundred in the longest format of the game.
289 v Eng, Nagpur, 2012
214 v Aus, Perth, 2018 *
199 v Aus, Adelaide, 2012
199 v Aus, Chennai, 2013
191 v Eng, Trent Bridge, 2018