#INDvBAN: Virat Kohli doubles joy again

If only Virat Kohli had gone for the review. He got it right the first time but did not go for it the next time.

Having understood the intricacies of DRS during the previous home series against England and getting it right more often than not, Kohli, on 180, consulted his partner at the crease, Wriddhiman Saha, after West Indies umpire Joel Wilson adjudged leg before to a Mehedi Hasan off-spinning delivery.

The ball turned sharply, beating his forward defence. But the turn was too much for the third umpire Chris Gaffaney to agree with Wilson. Once the stadium’s giant screen flashed green under ‘WICKETS’ column, the crowd gave a loud cheer for Kohli and followed it with Bharat Mata Ki Kai.

The crowd egged Kohli to yet another double ton. Kohli acknowledged their support by waving his bat all around after lofting Taijul Islam over covers for his fourth double century in as many series, beginning with the West Indies last July, becoming the first batsman to do so in Test history.

This was not all. Kohli’s 204, followed by Saha’s 106 not out and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 60 saw India declare at 687/6. This was the only instance that a team scored 600-plus thrice on the trot.

At stumps, the visitors lost opener Soumya Sarkar to a successful DRS by India following a faint inside edge in Umesh Yadav’s first over eight minutes before the scheduled close. At 41/1, largely due to loose deliveries by India’s senior most bowler Ishant Sharma, Bangladesh face an uphill task. They trail by 646 runs.

The day belonged to Kohli. He played a near blemishless knock until making two mistakes at one go to bring his innings to an abrupt end. All along meeting he ball nicely – he edged only 11 of the 246 deliveries he faced – timing to perfection and wristily driving, turning the position of the bat at the last moment to pick the gaps for boundaries, Kohli rarely missed.

He missed an attempted cut off Islam, the ball impacted the pad first and then the bat. Marais Erasmus adjudged leg before. Having erred in the shot selection, Kohli made a mistake again not to go for the referral.

Perhaps, Saha let him down as he started his walk back. Saha could have stopped Kohli in his steps and told him to refer as India had both their DRS remaining, for TV replays showed the point of impact was outside the off stump.

Every time Kohli scored a double hundred, he has gone on to better his best. Antigua’s 200 became 211 in Indore and 235 in Mumbai. He was well set for a career best had he reviewed the decision.

Until then, it was vintage Kohli, as he has been since last July. The manner in which he batted, there was no doubt as to who the dictator was. He has been scoring double hundreds with ease that anything less than that doesn’t give him satisfaction. When West Indies, New Zealand and England have suffered at his bat, Kohli would not let go of the spineless Bangladesh attack, of which spinners Islam and Mehedi Hasan bowled a majority of overs, waiting for batsmen to make mistakes.

The first mistake was by Ajinkya Rahane, who, at 82, he uppishly square drove Islam for Mehedi to take a diving catch. 

However, Saha was not going to squander the opportunity. The Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman attacked from the start, dancing down the pitch to the spinners and driving in the V including a down-the-ground six off Islam to bring up his second Test century.

Saha made merry, as did Ravindra Jadeja, whose Thakur-style celebration swinging his bat is becoming a regular feature. The left-hander scored at a brisk rate that he was eyeing his maiden Test hundred when Kohli declared the innings closed 48 minutes into the day’s final session.