India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday roared back to form with a dominant hundred against Sri Lanka in the ongoing first of the three-match Test series at Galle. Kohli, who experienced a brief slump in his form in the larget format of the game, hammered his 17th Test hundred as India declared their second innings at 240/3, setting Sri Lanka a mammoth 550-run target.
Kohli didn't take much time to reach his century, which was studded with five fours and one hit over the fence. Resuming on overnight score of 76, Kohli batted briskly to achieve the hundred and was not out on 103 with Ajinkya Rahane who was unbeaten on 23.
Kohli equalled former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar's record of 17 hundreds in 116 Tests. However, Kohli has reached the milestone in exactly half the number Vengsarkar took -- 58th match.
Earlier on Day 3, Abhinav Mukund and Kohli scored half-centuries and shared a 133-run partnership to propel India's lead to 498 on Friday. India did not enforce the follow on despite an imposing 309-run lead from the first innings after earlier dismissing Sri Lanka for 291.
The 28-year-old Delhi stalwart was going through a patchy form and had scored only 46 runs in his last three Tests and was eager to return back to his supreme self.
Kohli now averages 50 plus in all formats of the game, becoming the only player to do so. This is also Kohli's 10th Test hundred as captain and he took just 44 innings to reach the milestone, the fastest by an Indian skipper.
