JOIN USBatting paradise gives India wings
The first three matches of the series had yielded just one century -- a masterpiece (120) from Rohit Sharma in Nagpur. The same match saw Australia fold up for 91 in the second innings. In the next Test in Delhi, Australia once again imploded in the second innings before crashing to 113. India suffered a similar fate in Indore where they were packed off for 109 as spinners held sway over batsmen on turners for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Ahmedabad pitch, however, couldn't have been any starker in its nature in comparison to the first three. The 22-yard piece of real estate has been so docile that four different batters have scored a century each on each of the four days of the fourth Test here at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. After Usman Khawaja's classical 180, Cameron Green's awe-inspiring 114 (his maiden Test ton) and Shubman Gill's sight-for-the-sore-eyes 128, Virat Kohli, overnight 59, compiled a marathon 186 (516m, 364b, 15x4) that ensured India finished day four with an upper hand on Sunday.
The former skipper, who ended his three-year and three-month wait for a Test hundred, was a constant in three significant associations that helped India, overnight 289/3, declare their innings closed at 571/9 at the fall of Kohli with Shreyas Iyer unable to bat due to a stiff back.
Armed with a 91-run lead, the hosts attempted to grab a couple of Aussie wickets in their second hit but Travis Head (3 n.o.) and Matt Kuhnemann (0 n.o.), who opened in the absence of regular opener Khawaja who hurt himself while fielding on the boundary, survived six testing overs. It could well have been 3/1 but wicketkeeper Bharat couldn't bring his gloves down in time to pouch a healthy edge off Kuhnemann in the penultimate over of the innings by R Ashwin.
With the century-drought weighing heavily on his shoulders, Kohli appeared determined to end the long, frustrating wait at the first genuine opportunity in the series in terms of conditions as the pitch was misbehaving only mildly even towards the end of the penultimate day of the match. He had done all the hard work the previous night in reaching 59 - first half-century since his 79 against South Africa in Centurion in January 2022. The task now was to convert it into a first three-figure score in over three years.
Though the pitch itself posed not too many questions, Kohli's task was to conquer the inner demons, if any; survive the physically and mentally taxing conditions despite the sickness as revealed by his actor wife Anushka Sharma through a post on Instagram. He also had to stay patient and not try anything silly in the face of Australia's run-drying tactic. The 34-year-old passed all the tests to bring up his 28th Test hundred.
En route, he shared significant partnerships of 64, 84, 162 with Ravindra Jadeja (28), Bharat (44) and Axar Patel (79) respectively that helped India go past Australia's total. Though a win seems a distant possibility given the pitch hasn't deteriorated to their liking, India will look to make quick inroads and hope the Aussies disintegrate mentally.