Hyderabad, Feb 10:
Skipper Virat Kohli scored a record-breaking fourth double hundred as Indian batsmen devoured on a meek Bangladesh bowling line-up to pile up a massive 687 for 6 declared on the second day of the one-off Test here.
At stumps, Bangladesh were 41/1 after losing opener Soumya Sarkar’s wicket to Umesh Yadav.
En route his 204, Kohli became the first batsman in the history of Test cricket to claim four hundreds in as many series.
In the process, he surpassed the legendary Sir Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid, both of whom had three double hundreds in successive series.
Kohli’s four double hundreds have now come against West Indies (200), New Zealand (211), England (235) and now Bangladesh.
The team total of 687/6 was also a world record as no team had ever scored 600 plus runs in three consecutive Test matches before today. The earlier two came against England at Mumbai and Chennai respectively.
The good news for India was comeback-man Wriddhiman Saha’s unbeaten 106 off 155 balls — his second Test hundred that justified team management’s immense faith in his abilities.
It was Wriddhiman and Ravindra Jadeja’s (60 not out) long handle that saw India score at an average of more than four runs per over.
Ajinkya Rahane, with his 82 off 133 balls, also looked like getting his mojo back after poor form and injury plagued him during the England series.
With the pitch offering some turn, Bangladesh batsmen will have an arduous task of saving the game, which looks highly unlikely against the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Among the flurry of other records that Kohli broke, the significant one was scoring the maximum number of Test runs in a home season surpassing Virender Sehwag’s record.
The first session belonged to Kohli, who scored a double hundred in less than five hours laced with 24 boundaries and in 239 balls. (PTI)
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