Pune Test: Virat Kohli nears 200 as India consolidate position at Tea

Virat Kohli (Twitter)

Pune, Oct 11: India skipper Virat Kohli inched towards a record seventh double hundred as India consolidated their position to reach 473/4 at Tea on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa here on Friday.

Kohli, who is set to become the Indian batsman with most double tons, remained unbeaten on 194 from 286 balls, his marathon innings lasting more than six hours, laced with 28 fours.

Ravindra Jadeja, promoted to bat at No. 6, was batting with him on 25 from 59 deliveries as the pair shared an unbroken 97-run stand for the fifth wicket.

This was after Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had associated for a 178-run partnership before the India vice-captain departed for 59 off 168 deliveries (8x4), Keshav Maharaj having him caught behind by 'keeper Quinton de Kock.

But there was no stopping Indian batsmen from scoring runs as Jadeja, playing in Hanuma Vihari's batting position, milked the tired South African bowlers for easy runs while Kohli upped the ante to take Maharaj for two boundaries in an over.

Earlier, Kohli scored a brilliant hundred as he, along with Rahane, took the hosts to a commanding position. At Lunch, India were sitting in the driver's seat at 356/3.

Starting the day at 273/3, both the overnight batsmen played out the first hour rather cautiously as the Proteas pacers kept bowling on probing lines and tested the techniques of the Indians with the second new ball at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium.

During the course of his innings, Kohli also went past Dilip Vengsarkar's tally of 6,868 runs to climb to the seventh position in the list of players with most runs for India in the longest format.

The Indian team amassed 83 runs in the session without losing any wicket in the morning session.

Earlier on Day 1, Mayank Agarwal (108) had scored a brilliant century and was ably supported by Cheteshwar Pujara (58) as India reached 273/3 when umpires called for early stumps because of bad light.

Brief scores: India 473/4 (Virat Kohli 194 batting, Mayank Agarwal 108, Ajinkya Rahane 59, Cheteshwar Pujara 58; Kagiso Rabada 3/93)

New Delhi, Oct 11: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed the cricket pitches in India, saying the tracks are "boring" and are more in favour of the batsmen.

"Test match cricket pitches in India are boring...The first 3/4 days the contest is far too in favour of the bat...needs more action for the bowler...My thought of the day ...," Vaughan tweeted on Friday.

His comments came during the ongoing second Test between India and South Africa being played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Staidum in Pune where the Indian batters have dominated the proceedings. Skipper Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal scored brilliant hundreds and have taken the hosts to a commanding position.

Even in the first Test, the Indian batsmen had a great time at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. While Mayank scored a double hundred, Rohit Sharma -- in his debut match as opener in red-ball cricket -- scored hundreds in both the innings in the game which India won by 203 runs.