Kohli celebrates after scoring his 14th Test hundred

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

India captain Virat Kohli and batsman Cheteshwar Pujara both made centuries to put their side in a commanding position against England on the first day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Kohli joined an elite club as a result of his hundred as he became only the sixth Indian player after Sunil Gavaskar, VVS Laxman, Gundappa Vishwanath, Polly Umrigar and Kapil Dev to score a century in his 50th Test match.

Choosing to bat first, India got off to a dismal start as opening batsman Lokesh Rahul, who was making his return from a hamstring injury, was dismissed by Stuart Broad on the 11th ball of the match.

Rahul’s opening partner, Murali Vijay, got off to a blistering start, but fell to James Anderson, who was making his comeback from a shoulder injury, for 20.

With India having lost their openers early on, Kohli and Pujara worked in tandem to guide the team’s innings back in the right direction.

The pair raced past their fifties and reached the triple-figure mark in good time as they frustrated England, who were desperate for a breakthrough.

With things spiralling out of control  as a result of Kohli and Pujara, England finally ended the duo’s 226-run partnership when Pujara was caught behind off the bowling of Anderson for 119, which came off 204 balls and included 12 boundaries and two sixes.

Pujara is elated after bringing up his 10th Test century

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

During his fantastic knock, Pujara surpassed 3,000 Test runs and joined Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid as the fifth-fastest Indian to do so as he needed just 67 innings to surpass the milestone.

Furthermore, Kohli and Pujara’s partnership marked the first time since August 2002 that India have managed a third-wicket partnership of over a 100 runs against England in Tests. The last time this occurred was when Tendulkar and Dravid accumulated a 150-run stand at Headingley in Leeds.

Kohli and Rahane kept the runs flowing with a 68-run stand, during which Kohli surpassed the 150-run mark, before Rahane was also caught behind off the bowling of Anderson for 23.

With Rahane having been dismissed in the penultimate over of the day, Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin only managed to put together an unbeaten one-run partnership before stumps was called.

Kohli finished on 151 off 241 balls, which included 15 boundaries, while Ashwin remained undefeated on one.

Anderson was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Broad claimed one.

India ended day one on 317/4 and will continue batting on Friday at 09:30 local time or 04:00 GMT.