India vs Bangladesh: Sourav Ganguly lauds Virat Kohli, calls him a ‘run machine’ | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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India vs Bangladesh: Sourav Ganguly lauds Virat Kohli, calls him a ‘run machine’

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | ByAritra Mukherjee
Nov 23, 2019 06:49 PM IST

IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli scored his 27th Test hundred on Day 2 of the second Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Twilight, night sky, the first session, pink ball, nothing could come in Virat Kohli’s way. The Indian captain became the first Indian to score a century in a Day/Night Test on Day 2 of the second Test match against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, prompting BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to state that Kohli has made batting look easier against the pink ball.

Kolkata: Indian batsman Virat Kohli runs between the wickets.(PTI)
Kolkata: Indian batsman Virat Kohli runs between the wickets.(PTI)

There were lot of concerns on how the pink ball would behave under lights, whether it would be difficult to spot during the twilight phase but India captain Virat Kohli erased all the doubts with his broad bat. He had batted during the difficult period last night and remained unbeaten on 59 at the close of play. On Saturday, he carried on from where he had left to show that it was not that difficult to tackle the pink ball on the first session either. Bangladesh had lost 7 wickets in the first session on Day 1 but on Day 2, India lost only 1 and scored 130 runs in 30 overs, largely due to Kohli, who went on to slam his 27th Test hundred and a second consecutive hundred at the Eden Gardens. He had scored a hundred against Sri Lanka at this venue in 2017.

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Also read: WATCH: Kohli gets out, Bangladesh bowler gives him a send-off

“Kohli is a run machine. He was absolutely brilliant,” said Sourav Ganguly reacting on Kohli’s innings. Asked whether Kohli had put an end to the concerns of batting against the pink ball, Ganguly said “We all have seen him bat. It’s actually easier than the red ball,” Ganguly added.

Kohli also equalled Ricky Ponting’s record of 41 centuries as captain across formats in exactly half the time. Ponting had taken 376 innings and Kohli did it only his 188th innings.

Kohli started off Day 2 by hitting two delightful fours through the on side – the first one was off Taijul Islam’s bowling and the next came through the gap between mid-wicket and mid-on when Al Amin strayed down the pads. But the real moment of assurance came when he bludgeoned Al Amin in the third ball of the 51st over through the covers. The cover drive to Kohli is what the straight drive was to Tendulkar. The moment you see that coming off perfectly, your inward voice whispers, ‘here you go’. He replicated the same off Ebadot’s bowling a few overs later, which took him to 99 and brought up his 70th international ton overall with a couple off left-arm spinner Taijul Islam.

Also read: Virat Kohli surpasses Ricky Ponting in elite Test list led by Graeme Smith

He switched gears after getting to his century. In the 71st over of the Indian innings, he sent Abu Jayed on a leather hunt, hitting him for fours – through backward point, straight down the ground, between mid-on and square-leg and through the covers – to collect 19 runs. He was in that sort of mood, he perhaps had in the back of his mind that this was India’s last Test this year and the last one at home in the next 12 months or so.

When hopes of a double hundred had started to saunter in, Kohli’s innings came to an abrupt end. It was perhaps the most harmless delivery of the Test match but what brought Kohli’s downfall was one of the catches on the boundary. Kohli flicked it in the air – the only aerial shot in his innings – and Taijul Islam jumped, got two hands to it and plucked it out of thin air at the fine-leg boundary.

Kohli’s dismissal, however, brought a few quick wickets for Bangladesh. India lost 5 wickets after lunch in just 13.4 overs before the captain decided to declare the innings with a 241-run lead to make use of the twilight factor with the ball.

‘Bangladesh need to play well’

Bangladesh have thoroughly outplayed in this Test match so far. Reacting on that Sourav Ganguly said, “Bangladesh need to play well... Their first Test team played really well against us, they scored 400 in the first innings. But I understand this team doesn’t have a few of their top players.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Aritra Mukherjee, who happens to be a journalist, is in an eternal relationship with food and sleep. He can, however, sacrifice both or at least the latter for his love-affair with cricket. 'He said,' 'he added,' 'he signed off' are some of his favourite phrases. When not juggling between food, sleep and cricket, he wastes time by surfing OTT platforms.

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