Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

King Kohli climbs 'The Wall', eclipses 'The Don'

Last updated on: February 10, 2017 14:46 IST

Virat Kohli

IMAGE: Virat Kohli celebrates after completing his double century. Photograph: BCCI

India captain Virat Kohli continued his unbelievable record-breaking spree with the bat as he surpassed the legendary Sir Donald Bradman and Rahul Dravid by becoming the first batsman to score double hundreds in four successive Test series, during day two of the one-off Test against Bangladesh, in Hyderabad, on Friday.


Kohli's double hundreds came in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and against Bangladesh.

Bradman and Dravid had achieved the feat in three successive series.

Kohli hit his maiden double hundred (200) at North Sound against the West Indies in July last year followed by 211 against New Zealand at Indore in October.

Virat Kohli

IMAGE: Virat Kohli celebrates after completing his double century. Photograph: BCCI

This was followed by his current career-best score of 235 against England in Mumbai in December and the 204 in the ongoing Test against Bangladesh.

While statistically Kohli had broken Bradman and Dravid's record but a cursory look at the former's stats reveal that his numbers during the 1930-31 phase was phenomenal.

In the 1930 Ashes series in England between June and August, the then 22-year-old Bradman scored 254 at Lord's, 334 (his career best) at Leeds followed by 232 at the Oval -- all in a single series.

In the following series against the West Indies in January 1931, Don hit 223 at Brisbane (the series was played in Australia). The next series that he played against South Africa (again Down Under), he hit 226 at Brisbane becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in three successive series.

For Dravid, the hat-trick of double hundreds in successive series came in the 2003-04 season.

He scored 222 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in October 2003 followed by 233 against Australia at Adelaide in December 2003 and the hat-trick was accomplished with his career-best 270 against Pakistan in the very next series.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.