Kohli-Shastri 2.0 off to a great start as India skipper silences critics with Galle ton

He has taken his Test average back to 50-plus. He is now one behind batting great Sunil Gavaskar's record of 11 Test centuries as captain for India. He now has two away tons more than the former.

Rewriting record books is not something unusual for Virat Kohli. However, when he punched Dilruwan Perera off his back foot to get a single and eventually his 17th Test century on the fourth day morning of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday, there was more relief than joy on the skipper's face. (Follow live action here)

Batting on an overnight score of 76, Kohli seemed to have given himself 30 minutes in the morning to get to his personal milestone. Questions were raised when India, even after pocketing a 301-run first innings lead, opted not to enforce a follow-on with the Galle weather also being rough during the third day's play.

However, India's decision to bat again has not just negated the team's possibility of batting last on the Galle wicket but also has worked wonders for the captain, whose form in the longer format of the game had dipped a bit in the recent past.

Recent woes in whites

Notably, Kohli's previous Test century had come during India's win over Bangladesh in a one-off Test in February 2017. For four-months, which is a bit too long taking into consideration the skipper's superhuman consistency, he had not reached even a half-century, let alone the magical three-figure mark.

In the tightly-fought home series earlier this year against Australia, Kohli was among India's poorest batsmen. Apart from scores of 0, 13, 12, 15, 6 and 3, the captain pulled out of the decider in Dharamsala with injury concerns.

Kohli-Kumble saga a distraction

If the dip in form was a concern, Kohli's rift with former head coach Anil Kumble did seem to affect him a lot. Speculations were rife that the relationships between the captain and the coach had strained during the Australia series itself.

Even in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy, the skipper had to battle off-field issues apart from leading the team against the opposition in a highly-competitive tournament. The Delhi batsman, who is known for his love of gunning down targets, failed remarkably, succumbing to pressure in the final against eventual winners - Pakistan.

Kohli had little time to reflect on his Champions Trophy performances as Kumble stepped down in an unforeseen move. Chaos followed as the Board of Control for Cricket in India came up with a shoddy approach to select the former captain's predecessor.

The fingers pointed towards Kohli as well and he was also at the receiving end for allegedly influencing the selection process.

Reunion with Shastri

However, in the end, it all ended well for Kohli as his favourite Ravi Shastri came on board as the coach. With Sri Lanka performing poorly against a visiting Zimbabwe team earlier this month, the stage was set for Kohli's revival.

Kohli seemed to be a determined figure when he stepped out on the field in the second innings. Having been dismissed for 3 in the first innings, the skipper was under considerable pressure.

The 28-year-old though kept himself busy right from the start and ended up with an unbeaten 103, which just had five boundaries and six. The captain stitched a crucial 133-run stand with opener Abhinav Mukund to help India set a mammoth, possibly match-winning total of 550.

It seems Ravi Shastri's return to the dressing room has brought with it luck for Kohli.

Before Shastri's appointment as Team Director in August 2014, Kohli suffered one of the lowest points of his career, scoring a meagre 134 across nine innings in England. However, in the following series in Australia, as Shastri watched on, Kohli smashed records with four centuries Down Under, including a ton on captaincy debut.

Shastri-Kohli partnership 2.0 is now off to a glorious start. Signs of more good things to come for Team India?