Kohli joins greats with another double

Virat Kohli has joined some of the greats of the game in posting his third Test double century of the year, punishing England's bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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Kohli is just the fifth man to score three Test scores of 200 or more in a calendar year, joining Sir Donald Bradman (1930), Ricky Ponting (2003), Michael Clarke (2012) and Brendon McCullum (2014).

Having never scored more than 169 at Test level before this year, Kohli has peeled off scores of 200 against the West Indies in Antigua, 211 against New Zealand in Indore and he was unbeaten on 212 at lunch on day four in Mumbai. He is the first man to score a double century in three consecutive series in the same year.

Kohli has also now scored more than 2500 runs this year across all formats, only the 11th player to do so. While none of the previous 11 had averaged 70 in that year, Kohli's average for the year was 91.32 at lunch on the fourth day.

The Indian skipper's performance in Mumbai earned high praise from some greats of the game, with former captain Sunil Gavaskar labelling it "one of the best centuries that I have seen".

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also called Kohli "a genius".

Kohli has been a revelation since he took over the Test captaincy from MS Dhoni in late 2014; in 21 matches as skipper he now has eight Test centuries, including three doubles, and his average of 66.87 as skipper is the second-highest of any player to have been captain in 20 or more Tests, behind only Bradman's extraordinary mark of 101.51.

By lunch on day four, Kohli had tallied 617 runs for the series, the second-most ever for a series between India and England and the most on Indian soil. Graham Gooach's mark of 752 runs in 1990, scored in just three Tests, is the record. 

On Saturday, Kohli crossed 1000 Test runs for the year and 4000 for his career as he finished the day unbeaten on 147.

The 28-year-old entered the fray early in the morning session on day three after Cheteshwar Pujara (47) was bowled out by Jake Ball on just the second ball of the day.

It marked the Indian captain's second century of the series after his stunning 167 in the second Test at Visakhapatnam.

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"He played exceptionally well today and you have to take your hat off sometimes and just accept it," England's Joe Root said of Kohli after play on day three

"The amount of runs Kohli has scored this series, if you take those away it's a completely different series."

Resuming three short of 150 on Sunday, Kohli and No.9 batsman Jayant Yadav quickly ticked off the milestones as England toiled hard in the field.

By lunch, Kohli and Yadav's partnership stood at an unbeaten 215, the eighth highest eighth-wicket partnership ever and the most by an Indian pair.

Yadav went to the interval on 92 not out, just short of his maiden Test century, while Kohli was unbeaten on 212.

The pair steered the home side to 7-579 at the break, a lead of 179.

England, who scored 400 in their first innings, must win at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium to keep the series alive going into the fifth Test in Chennai.

- with AFP

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