Captain Virat Kohli has led the Indian test cricket team from the front to beat England in style.
His 235 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the third double century from him in 2016, simply blew England away and India took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the ongoing test series.
As MS Dhoni's successor in 2014, Virat Kohli has already powered India to dramatic wins over South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand.
His ability to score consistently in all forms of the game - tests and one-dayers - as well as his incredible fitness levels makes him a worthy successor to Sachin Tendulkar as well and to the ever-dependable Rahul Dravid, too.
Congratulate Virat Kohli now:
In a tweet, Ravi Shastri wrote, "It is very rare that a team scores 400 and loses by an innings; especially in India where 1st innings runs are gold!" But such is the magic of Captain Kohli that he energises his team mates who chip in with five-wicket hauls and centuries by tail-enders: Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed his 24th five-wicket haul in tests and Jayant Yadav hit 124. With six wickets in each of the innings, Ashwin alone seemed capable of sending the English batsmen back to the pavilion. Truly, a team effort inspired by their skipper that drove England to a nervous collapse in the early session of the fifth day and pushed them to an innings defeat.
India's nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar tweeted "Khas taur se Virat Kohli Kohli ko badhaai deti hun jinhone 235 run banaaye (special congratulations to Virat Kohli who scored 235 runs)," and gifted him an evergreen song, "Aakash ke us paar bhi":
Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, whose love for the game is legendary, also tweeted: "Congratulations to Indian cricket team led by @imVkohli on a comprehensive test series win against England. Well played champions!"
At his most sublime, Virat Kohli is also the most lethal and clearly 2016 belongs to him. With the fifth test in Chennai scheduled for December 16 being given the go-ahead after the uncertainty that shrouded it in the wake of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's death, England have no time to reflect and recover.
Virat Kohli will drive his way into 2017, into the IPL (if it goes ahead in the controversies that BCCI is under) and emerge as India's most successful captain ever. Do you agree?
