India's Test captain Virat Kohli today ended the lean patch as he ringed in his 13th Test century in the last match of the series against New Zealand at the Holkar cricket stadium in Indore.
Giving the audiences a memorable experience, Kohli (103) has hit a Test century on the home soil after a gap of three long years.
Along with Ajinkya Rahane (79) on the other side, the skipper has put the team in a strong position on Day 1 of the last Test of the series. At the end of the first day's play, India were 267/3.
Earlier, veteran opener Gautam Gambhir, with all eyes on him, managed to provide a brisk start to India. Setting the tone for the first ever Test match in Indore, Gambhir started off with a boundary.
However, he couldn’t convert his innings into a big one as he fell prey to Trent Boult at a score of (29).
Gambhir made a comeback to the national team after being sidelined for two years as India decided to bat after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss for the third successive time in the series.
When Matt Henry tested him with two short deliveries, the Delhi southpaw unleashed two consecutive pull shots that carried the ball safely over the ropes. Two more fours took his total to 24 off 20 making the 34-year-old's intent loud and clear.
His opening partner Murali Vijay (10) produced two classy fours off pacer Trent Boult but soon fell prey to off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who induced the right-hander to flick before being caught by Tom Latham at short-leg.
Encouraged by the result, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson immediately introduced spin from both ends employing Mitchell Santner but one down Cheteshwar Pujara and Gambhir did not give the left-armer any chance.
Boult then came back to break through the defence of Gambhir when he angled one across that thudded low on the back pad of the left-hander which was enough for the umpire to raise the finger.
With both the openers back, Kohli joined Pujara in the middle and the duo saw through the opening session without any more hiccups as the umpires called for lunch when India reached 75/2.
Post lunch, Pujara was stunned by Mitchell Santner for 41.
Earlier, both the teams made two changes each, with Gambhir and pacer Umesh Yadav replacing Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for India while the Kiwis welcomed their skipper Williamson back into the playing XI along with all-rounder James Neesham filling in for Henry Nicholls and Neil Wagner respectively.
