WTC final | All eyes on Virat Kohli to create history for India

Virat Kohli plays a shot during the fourth day of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 between India and Australia, at The Oval, in London on June 10, 2023.
| Photo Credit: ANI

All eyes are on India’s star batter Virat Kohli as India is chasing the mammoth 444-run target on the Fifth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in London on Sunday. Virat who failed to deliver in the first innings, learnt from his mistake and batted solidly in the second innings. He is at the crease with 44 (60)*.

India’s run machine, on the fourth day of the WTC final, joined an elite list as he became the fifth Indian batter to score more than 2000 runs against Australia. ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar still holds the record for scoring the highest number of runs against Australia, at 3,630. At second is VVS Laxman with 2,434 runs. The third position is held by the current Indian head coach Rahul Dravid, who has scored 2,143 runs against the Australian team. The experienced Cheteshwar Pujara is the fourth batter on the list with 2,074 runs. Virat Kohli is at fifth with 2,037* runs. He has an excellent record against Australia in all formats of the game as he has scored more than 5000 runs in 93 matches with an average of 51.05. He has also bagged 16 hundreds and 24 fifties against Aussies.

Virat also holds a reputation for scoring the most runs in WTC by the Indian batter.

Meanwhile, an eventful Day 4 of the WTC final came to a close with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane holding India’s fort. At the end of the fifth day, India scored 164/3 in 40 overs with Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli at the crease with scores of 20(59)* and 44(60)*. After the arguable dismissal of Shubman Gill in the second innings, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara kept the scoreboard moving. But Rohit Sharma became the target of Nathan Lyon and Pujara was dismissed by Pat Cummins’s bowling.

India was down to 93/3 when Rahane and Kohli took on the Australian bowlers and subdued them with their defensive skills and attacking shots. They went on to build an unbeaten 71-run partnership at the end of the day. India ended the day with 164/3 and they still need 280 runs to win the game.