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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Record after record, why Virat is Super-Sensational

Record after record, why Virat is Super-Sensational

By Rajneesh Gupta
February 11, 2017 09:09 IST
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Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the stats and facts around the sensational Virat Kohli.

It's raining records for captain Virat Kohli

IMAGE: It's raining records for Virat Kohli. Photograph: BCCI

Virat Kohli bettered the records of Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid after becoming the first player in Test history to score a double hundred in FOUR consecutive series.

Bradman and Dravid scored double hundreds in three consecutive series.

Kohli's double hundreds came in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.

Kohli also broke another Test record on the way to his classy double century.

Double hundreds in most consecutive series

Series Player Score Season
4 Virat Kohli 200 v WI, 211 v NZ, 235 v Eng & 204 v Ban 2016-2016/17
3 Don Bradman 254, 334, 232 v Eng, 223 v WI & 226,229* v SA 1930-1931/32
3 Rahul Dravid 222 v NZ, 233 v Aus, 270 v Pak 2003/04

Virat reached another milestone on Friday, February 10 -- he has now scored 1,168 runs in Test matches at home in the 2016/17 season, which is a new record in Test cricket.

The previous record was held by Virender Sehwag who had aggregated 1,105 runs in the 2004-05 season.

Most runs in Tests in a home season

  Matches Runs Average 100 50 Season
Virat Kohli (India) 9 1,168 89.84 4 2 2016/17
Virender Sehwag (India) 9 1,105 69.06 4 3 2004/05
Graham Gooch (England) 6 1,058 96.18 4 3 1990
Sunil Gavaskar (India) 13 1,027 51.35 3 4 1979/80
Dilip Vengsarkar (India) 10 966 107.33 4 3 1986/87
Ricky Ponting (Australia) 6 965 107.22 3 3 2003/04

There is a definite shift in Virat's batting ever since his elevation to the captaincy.

Virat had been a world-class batsman even when he was not leading the side, but ever since he has become captain, he seems to be in a different league altogether.

Take a look at the following table:

Virat as a player and as a captain

  Tests Runs Highest Score Average 100s 50s
As player 31 2,098 169 41.13 7 10
As captain 23 2,315 235 68.08 9 4
Total 54 4,413 235 51.91 16 14

Different players react differently to the burdens of captaincy.

While some players' batting get pressured by captaincy, others are able to raise their standards.

Virat belongs to the second group.

He averages nearly 27 points more in matches he has captained than when in the team as a player.

No other Indian player comes anywhere near Virat in raising his batting skills so much while captaining the side.

A comparative study of all players who have led India in at least five Tests -- their batting average while as a player vis-a-vis as captain.

Keeping out players like Bishan Singh Bedi, S Venkatraghavan, Anil Kumble etc who were in the team for their bowling skills rather than their batting skills leaves us with 15 names.

There are only 4 names who have performed better as captain.

Virat obviously tops the chart, with M S Dhoni a distant second.

Indian captains

  Batting avg as player Batting avg as captain Diff
Virat Kohli 41.13 68.08 +26.95
M S Dhoni 33.07 40.64 +7.57
Kapil Dev 30.83 31.72 +0.89
Lala Amarnath 24.21 24.50 +0.29
Dilip Vengsarkar 42.14 42.08 -0.06
Sunil Gavaskar 51.33 50.72 -0.61
Mohammad Azharuddin 46.01 43.94 -2.07
Sachin Tendulkar 54.17 51.35 -2.82
Nari Contractor 32.91 29.17 -3.74
M A K 'Tiger' Pataudi 41.00 34.14 -6.86
Ajit Wadekar 34.10 26.75 -7.35
Sourav Ganguly 45.16 37.66 -7.50
Rahul Dravid 54.13 44.51 -9.62
Polly Umrigar 43.74 32.83 -10.91
G S Ramchand 27.41 12.33 -15.08
Vijay Hazare 54.92 39.73 -15.19
Vinoo Mankad 33.67 9.17 -24.50

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