Virat Kohli Becomes 1st Indian Captain To Lead In 10 Tests In A Country Outside India

Another game, another record for Virat Kohli; if his bat is silent, he is breaking records as a captain. As he stood for the toss at the Oval, on Thursday, the Delhi-born became the first Indian captain to have led the side in 10 Tests in a country outside the home.

The Oval Test is his 10th Test as a skipper in England – 9 versus England plus the WTC final versus New Zealand.

He surpassed MS Dhoni, who had led India in 9 Tests in England while Sunil Gavaskar is 3rd on the list after captaining India in 8 Tests in Pakistan. Virat Kohli is fourth on the tally again with 7 Tests as captain in Australia, where he was given the lead for the first time in 2014.

Virat Kohli Becomes 1st Indian Captain To Lead In 10 Tests In A Country Outside India

He has marshaled the side in 6 Tests in Sri Lanka and West Indies each while 3 in South Africa, 2 in New Zealand, and 1 in Bangladesh. Virat Kohli is also the first Asian captain to register a Test series win in Australia, on the 2018/19 tour.

India 54/3 at Lunch; England pacers make inroads after a 28-run opening stand

England have taken the upper hand while going into Lunch after accounting for three wickets in the first session at the Oval. This, after the Indian openers, had a brisk start after being inserted in by Joe Root.

With the help of some brilliant stroke-making, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma put up 28 runs in 8 overs. Then, Chris Woakes, playing his first Test match in a year, made the first breakthrough with Sharma’s wicket.

Ollie Robinson got rid of Rahul before James Anderson once again nicked off Cheteshwar Pujara leaving India reeling at 39/3. In a surprise move, Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat ahead of Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant at number 5. Jadeja and Kohli took India to lunch further unscathed.

Earlier, Virat Kohli had runged two changes: Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur replaced Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who, the skipper said, are having niggles. However, the talking point remains of Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion once again.

Also Read: Twitter Shocked As Ravindra Jadeja Walks In To Bat Ahead Of Ajinkya Rahane In The Oval Test