King Kohli passes Bradman as records tumble

Indian captain Virat Kohli has moved past batting royalty like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, scoring his seventh Test double century in the second Test against South Africa.

Kohli moved to 200 early in the final session on day two in Pune, joining England great Wally Hammond and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene in scoring seven double tons in Tests.

SCORECARD: India v South Africa, second Test

Only the great Sir Donald Bradman (12), Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara (11) and West Indies icon Brian Lara (nine) have posted more scores of 200 or more in Test cricket.

Tendulkar, Ponting, Younis Khan, Javed Miandad, Virender Sehwag and Marvan Atapattu all scored six double hundreds.

Playing his 81st Test, Kohli also reached the milestone of 7000 career runs on Friday, moving past Bradman’s iconic figure of 6996 runs that came in 52 Tests.

The Indian skipper is the equal-fourth fastest man in history to the 7000-run mark, levelling Sangakarra and West Indian Sir Gary Sobers in achieving the milestone in 138 innings. Hammond’s 131 innings remains the benchmark.

Remarkably, Kohli’s seven double tons have come in the space of just 40 Tests since his first in July 2016, during which time he’s averaged almost 67 with the bat.

For context, Bradman’s 12 double tons came in 52 career Tests.

In his 50th match as skipper, the 30-year-old posted his ninth score beyond 150 as captain, breaking Bradman’s record of eight.

He finished unbeaten on 254 from 336 balls, with 33 fours and two sixes, as India piled up a monster score of 5-601 declared.

After a 138-run stand for the second wicket between centurion Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara on the opening day, it was the turn of Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (59) to turn the screws on South Africa with a partnership of 178.

Armed with the second new ball, which was about five overs old, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander started off strongly on Friday morning to keep the batsmen on their toes.

There were not many scoring opportunities provided by the fast bowlers and most runs during the first 30 minutes came off the edge of the bat.

The frustrating wait for a breakthrough continued for the South Africans as Kohli, who was dropped on three by spinner Keshav Maharaj off his own bowling on Thursday, had at least three edges elude the fielder behind the wicket.

Once the ball had lost some shine and the pitch some movement, Kohli opened up and converted his knock into a hundred in his fifth Test of 2019.

Trademark drives on both sides of the wicket flowed from the right-hander's bat as India piled on the runs on a surface expected to assist the slow bowlers more as the match progressed.

After Rahane's dismissal, Kohli shared a quickfire 225-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja before the left-hander's dismissal for 91 triggered the declaration.

Most Test double hundreds

12 – Sir Donald Bradman (52 Tests)

11 – Kumar Sangakkara (134 Tests)

9 – Brian Lara (131 Tests)

7 – Virat Kohli (81 Tests*)

7 - Wally Hammond (85 Tests)

7 - Mahela Jayawardene (149 Tests)