Indian skipper Virat Kohli today surpassed former West Indies captain Brian Lara’s record of hitting most double tons in Test cricket. On the second day of the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, Kohli scored his sixth double hundred.
As a skipper, Lara, who is acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, has a record of hitting five double centuries.
With this feat, Kohli also overtook Rahul Dravid, who has five double hundreds in his name, to join Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in sharing the record of most number (six) of double centuries for India in Test cricket.
Resuming his inning from 156, Kohli -- playing in his 63rd Test, faced 238 deliveries to complete his second consecutive double hundred. Kohli pulled Suranga Lakmal and ran two to bring up his sixth double century in whites during the third Test.
The 29-year-old athlete is the fourth batsman to hit successive double hundreds and second Indian to do so.
Earlier on Saturday, Kohli, who hails from Delhi, had reached the landmark of 5,000 runs in the five-day format. He had reached the mark in typical style, smashing Sri Lanka pacer Suranga Lakmal for a boundary shortly after lunch.
Kohli became the 11th Indian to reach the milestone and the fourth quickest in terms of innings. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar is the quickest among Indian batsmen, achieving the distinction in 95 innings. Sehwag is second at 98 innings while Tendulkar is placed third with 103 knocks.
Kohli is also the second quickest among Indian batsmen in terms of time. He needed 2,358 days to complete the feat after Rahul Dravid's 2,252 days. Sehwag is third at 2,464 days.
The India skipper is also the second youngest to reach the 5,000-run mark among Indian bastmen at 29 years and 27 days. Tendulkar tops the list among Indians at 25 years and 301 days.
