‘A joy to watch’ – Virat Kohli, take a bow
Kohli scored 149 in India’s first-innings 274, when the next best individual score was Shikhar Dhawan’s 26. It was a monumental effort all right, which kept people glued to the action, whether at the ground or in their living rooms.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching that battle. Test cricket at it's best. Triumph over adversity and a joy to watch Virat Kohli craft, construct and conquer his surroundings on to his 22nd test century.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) August 2, 2018
A lot of heat on Kohli and produces a 100 in his first innings. #class 🏏
— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) August 2, 2018
Fantastic delivery from Ashwin to get rid of Cook. Almost a replay of the first innings. But today belonged to one man, Virat Kohli. #ENGvIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 2, 2018
What a player what a knock #Kohli
— Mason Crane (@masoncrane32) August 2, 2018
A masterclass from Virat Kohli, leading from the front. A display of tremendous character determination and grit #ENGIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) August 2, 2018
WHAT A CHAMPION 100 👏👏👏 captain leading from the front.. much needed...absolutely brilliant @imVkohli welldone @ImIshant @y_umesh too 👍 #ENDvIND @BCCI pic.twitter.com/kNuDCbqqOx
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) August 2, 2018
Just stood up in our studio and applauded. One of Kohli's best. Full of grit and patience. Proper test match batting. #Class.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 2, 2018
More than just the runs, or the way they came, it was about a signal of intent from Kohli as far as the entire series is concerned.
A very important knock by @ImVkohli. Lovely way to set up the Test series. Congrats on your Test hundred. #ENGvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 2, 2018
That said, the rest of the batsmen must lift their games too …
Day 2 at Edgbaston is all about Kohli..Kohli..& More Kohli..there’s not a soul anywhere near @imVkohli in both teams..honestly this gr8 little Fella is taking too much upon himself..mentally,physically & emotionally..surely some1 cn share workload w/Indn Capt in next 3 days..!!
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) August 2, 2018
One of the more intriguing passages in the game was when James Anderson was bowling to Kohli.
Anderson came on as soon as Kohli walked in, and bowled 43 balls in his first go at the Indian captain, moving the ball in either direction. He got edges, one was dropped in the slips too, and gave Kohli a thorough working over. But Kohli, showing tremendous grit, stayed in there.
Expect Kohli to get his revenge on Anderson. Wrote this before the game but I thought Anderson ( as well as Kohli) was quite brilliant todayhttps://t.co/LzKKmtXVwx
— Mike atherton (@Athersmike) August 2, 2018
For one of the best stroke players in the world, this Virat 100 was about ‘not’ playing strokes.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) August 2, 2018
Left 40 balls alone. 26 against Anderson. That’s more than 4 overs of Anderson left alone!
👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏
Virat Kohli's knock today is something akin to Sunny Gavaskar's 101 at Old Trafford in June 1974. All about guts and grit against some hostile bowling in adverse conditions!#ENGvIND #INDvENG
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 2, 2018
Before the series started, everyone was reminded about Kohli’s past performance in Test cricket in England – 134 runs in 10 innings. That statistic has improved now …
A brilliant hundred from Kohli. Scored more in this first innings than he did in 10 innings in 2014. Added 99 so far with Shami, Ishant and Yadav , who have scored 8 between them. #ENGIND pic.twitter.com/POeNkl9Oip
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 2, 2018
… and left people asking for more.
First Century. First of Many. Well played, Virat Kohli. Best batsman on the planet. #EngvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 2, 2018