From Adelaide 2014 heroics to mammoth Mumbai double-ton: Revisiting Virat Kohli's five best Test knocks

Hindustan Times

12-05-2025

After more than a decade of making the Test arena his playground, Virat Kohli called a day on his career in the whites, after 123 matches and 9230 runs. Not all of those runs were created equal: some came in situations where his teammates couldn't buy them, some came with a special message attached. The myth of King Kohli was born with performances that often couldn't be explained, as he showed skill and mentality that is one-in-a-million even in the elite levels of sport. There are countless Virat Kohli innings that deserve books unto themselves — but here are five of the best, five that will long live in memory.
Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel. A seaming first day pitch at Wanderers. His first innings stepping into Sachin Tendulkar's shoes at number four after the legend's retirement a month prior. And in the face of all these challenges, an innings of great maturity and control, in an innings where the second-highest score was 47. Kohli saw out SA's three-headed pace dragon and attacked the spinners, a century which carried the innings, and proved that Kohli was ready to be the leader of this batting unit in transition.
An innings that took Virat Kohli from talented star to a future legend. The kind of knock that will echo for decades to come, Kohli's second-innings century at the Adelaide Oval in 2014 showed all of the spirit, confidence, and quality that would come to define his next decade in cricket. Already having scored a century in the first innings, Kohli came in with India needing 364 on a pitch that was ragging and turning every which way. What followed was a showcase in temperament and skill with wickets falling all around him. He couldn't pull off the win on that day, but a legend was born.
This was Virat Kohli the batter in concert with Virat Kohli the captain. It cannot be overlooked how special it was to see Kohli hit the levels he did with the bat while overseeing India becoming an unbeatable force at home. India hadn't beaten England in a Test series since 2008 at this point, and leading 2-0 heading into the 4th Test at the Wankhede, Kohli brought that streak to an end with an exclamation mark. His highest Test score at the time, Kohli's 235 in Mumbai ensured that India won the match by an innings despite England scoring 400 in their first digs. For pure dominance and mastery, an innings which shattered the English team, his best Test innings in home conditions.
No scores of substance in England, a fiery ODI series leading up to it, a notorious send-off to Joe Root in the first innings. With a chorus of boos from the Birmingham crowd, the question was whether Virat Kohli could walk the talk. It was an innings of two halves, one with its fair share of luck, as Kohli survived a long Jimmy Anderson spell before showing off all the shots in his book. Moreover, a masterpiece in batting with the tail: India were trailing by 105 when the eighth wicket fell, but Kohli's attacking play ensured his first Test century on English soil brought his team within fighting distance. It was animosity that welcomed him, but applause and appreciation that saw him off.
The innings that made Justin Langer admit 'Virat Kohli is the best player I have seen in my life.' Coming in at 8-2 after Starc and Hazlewood had made a mess of both openers' stumps, a knock that came on a true nightmare surface for batting against the fired-up post-Sandpapergate Aussies. With the pitch at the WACA acting up just as India were sent in to bat, it felt for all money as if Australia had all the advantage in this game — but Kohli, their perennial thorn in the side from years past, reminded them why he belonged in the conversation of the best batters of his generation. He celebrated his ton in iconic style, telling the millions watching: I let my bat do the talking.