Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar, Joe Root for world record despite Chennai loss

Indian captain Virat Kohli returned to the squad for the first Test against England after skipping the final three matches in Australia as part of his paternity leave. While India lost the match by 227 runs and went 1-0 down in the four-match series, skipper Kohli himself regained his form with the bat to mark some positives for the hosts from an otherwise lacklustre outing. He scored 72 runs on a rabid Day 5 Chennai pitch as the rest of the Indian batting line-up crumbled around him.

India vs England 2021: Virat Kohli and co. suffer heavy defeat

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India vs England Test series: Virat Kohli on top of a major Test batting record

Virat Kohli’s 72-run knock in Chennai was his 51st fifty-plus score in Test cricket. He now has 27 tons and 24 half-centuries to his name in the format. Overall, it was his 179th fifty-plus across all international formats. Ever since his debut in 2008, Kohli has played 88 Tests, 251 ODIs and 85 T20Is to take bat in 470 international innings for India.

His 179 fifty-plus scores across 470 innings makes for a staggering 38.1 success percentage for him. Kohli is currently on top of the all-time pile, in terms of percentage of international innings with 50-plus scores (minimum 100 such scores), as the next best on the list is West Indies batting legend Vivian Richards with 35.8 percent. Kohli’s series counterpart Joe Root is third best on the list with a 50-plus scoring rate of 34.8 percent.

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Virat Kohli is even ahead of former Indian captains and batting icons Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. Others to feature in the list are former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and active New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. Here is a look at the entire list where Indian captain Kohli continues to assert his dominance.

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India vs England 2021 Test series updates

The ongoing India vs England Test series also forms a part of the ongoing inaugural ICC World Test Championship. In order to qualify for the final and set a date with New Zealand, Virat Kohli and co. will be looking to make a comeback in their remaining matches against England.

India vs England 2nd Test match

The India vs England 2nd Test match will be played at the same venue from Saturday, February 13 onwards. Here is a look at the entire India vs England 2021 series, that spans four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs over a month-and-a-half long tour.

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Image source: BCCI Twitter