5 records broken by Virat Kohli during his knock of 200

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli carried forward his outstanding form from the shorter formats of the game into the purest version of the game with a classy knock of 200 that has put the visitors firmly in command of the first Test against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. The West Indies legend himself was in attendance at the venue named after him and was full in awe of Kohli’s knock which he described as ‘classy’.

Coming into bat at No 3 after the early dismissal of Murali Vijay, not only did Kohli steady the ship for India, he also helped to push up the run-rate after the incredibly slow start by the Indian openers. Kohli’s double century, comprising of 24 boundaries came off just 283 balls and was typical of his aggressive nature helping India make a statement early on in the four-match series against West Indies.

Kohli’s incredible run of form over the past year or so has seen him break many records and this knock was no exception as a number of milestones were achieved during the classy double-century.

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#1 Kohli’s maiden Test double century

Kohli returns to the pavilion after his majestic knock of 200 against the West Indies at Antigua

Virat Kohli’s 200 is his highest ever score in Test match cricket beating the previous best of 169 he registered against Australia during the Boxing Day Test in 2014 in Melbourne, which incidentally turned out to be MS Dhoni’s final appearance in the longer format of the game.

Kohli has time and again spoken of his ambition to score big hundreds and he sounded visibly relieved after his knock yesterday.

“Getting a double hundred gives me a lot of satisfaction purely because of the fact that I have missed a couple of big scores in the past. I know I have the ability to get big hundreds,” he said.

Kohli’s highest scores in Test cricket

Score	Opposition	Venue	Match start date
200	West Indies	Sir Vivian Richards Ground, Antigua	21 July 2016
169	Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	26 December 2014
147	Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	6 January 2015
141	Australia	Adelaide Oval	9 December 2014
119	South Africa	Johannesburg	18 December 2013

As evident from the above table, Kohli has been more impressive overseas which makes him a truly great batsman.

#2 Kohli’s highest ever first-class score

Virat Kohli showed immense maturity as a 19-year-old scoring 197 for Delhi in a domestic match in 2008

Not only was this Kohli’s first ever double-century in Test cricket, it was also his maiden double century in first-class cricket. He had felt agonisingly short of a double century in 2008 while representing his state side Delhi, which also featured the likes of Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra in a Mohammad Nissar Trophy match against Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. That knock of 197 as a 19-year-old was until yesterday, his highest ever score in first-class cricket.

#3 First Indian skipper to score an overseas double century

Kohli will be aiming to better Dhoni's 224 against Australia which is the highest score by an Indian Test skipper

Kohli became the fifth Indian skipper to score a Test double century joining the likes of MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. But unlike his predecessors, this was the first time an Indian skipper managed to achieve the feat overseas.

Kohli beat the previous record for the highest score by an Indian skipper in overseas Tests (192) achieved by Mohammad Azharuddin against New Zealand at Auckland in 1990. With the mickey of an elusive double hundred off his back now, Kohli will be aiming to break the record held by his predecessor Dhoni who holds the record for the highest score by an Indian skipper which came during his knock of 224 against Australia in Chennai.

#4 Highest individual score at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium

Prior to Kohli’s knock yesterday, Chris Gayle held the record for the highest individual score at this venue

Score	Batsman	Opposition	Match start date
200	Virat Kohli (India)	West Indies	21 July 2016
150	Chris Gayle (WI)	New Zealand	25 July 2012
143	Ian Bell (England)	West Indies	13 April 2015
134	Kieran Powell (WI)	New Zealand	25 July 2012
128	Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI)	Australia	30 May 2008

Kohli’s 200 is the highest individual score achieved at the relatively new venue constructed in time for the 2007 ICC World Cup held in the Carribean. Named after one of the game’s all-time greats – Sir Issac Vivian Richards – the venue saw its first ever double hundred being scored as Kohli eclipsed the previous best of 150 scored by Chris Gayle against New Zeland in 2012.

That match has been till date the only one which produced a result, with the hosts winning by nine wickets, while the three other Tests held before the ongoing match has ended in a draw. By the manner in which things are proceeding, we could well see a result but not necessarily one the home fans will enjoy.

#5 Youngest Test skipper to score a double century in the West Indies

Kohli is now level with Azharuddin for most Test centuries overseas (5) as Indian skipper

At 27 years and 259 days, Virat Kohli became the youngest Test skipper to score a double century in the West Indies beating the previous record held by former West Indies skipper Denis Atkinson who was 28 years and 278 days old when he scored 219 against the visiting Australian side at Bridgetown in May 1955.

Kohli is also the third overseas skipper to score a double century in the Carribean joining England's Len Hutton and Australia's Bobby Simpson.

Kohli now has five Test centuries as skipper in Tests overseas which puts him level with Mohammad Azharuddin who also has the same number but from a vastly higher number of matches in comparison to Kohli.