India’s incredibly successful Test match skipper Virat Kohli on December 26 bagged another milestone to his name. Just prior to the start of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion in South Africa, Kohli became the most successful Indian captain when it comes to the flip of the coin.
Kohli recorded his 30th toss won as Test captain in his 68th Test, making him the most successful Indian captain when it comes to the tosses. Winning the flip at the SuperSport Park, Kohli surpassed India great Mohammad Azharuddin, who won 29 tosses in his 47 Tests as captain of India.
Notorious on social media for losing some of the most important tosses during his tenure, it’s ironic that a record like this would go in Kohli’s favour. But he inched past Azharuddin to now boast of most tosses won as India skipper.
Despite some rain around and overcast conditions, Kohli had no hesitation in opting to bat first in Centurion upon winning the toss. The Indian skipper, in fact, felt very confident of his decision as he summed up his thoughts about the track on offer.
“The wicket looks nice. There is a lot of grass on it but historically it tends to get faster from day two onwards,” Kohli told South African broadcasters SuperSport after the toss.
The decision taken by the skipper was vindicated by his men as they batted superbly to put India in a position of ascendancy by the close of play on Day 1. Openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul laid a perfect foundation with a crucial partnership of 117 runs.
While Agarwal finished with a fifty (60), Rahul went on to record an unbeaten century (122*). No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara got out first-ball before Kohli steadied the ship again with Rahul, scoring a measured 35 at his end.
Once Kohli departed, senior pro Ajinkya Rahane took control of things and struck a freeflowing 40* to take India to the finish.
On a track likely to quicken up but also behave uneven with time, India will be hoping to bat another couple of sessions at least and stretch their score past 400-430 on Day 2.
