Ranking of Virat Kohli's Test centuries, from least remarkable to most impressive:
Bold and Unrestricted Assessment of Virat Kohli's Test Cricket Career
Virat Kohli, the fiery former Test captain, hung up his whites after a career of epic highs and occasional lows. Sportswriter Rahul Iyer ranks all his Test tons, from mediocre to magnificent, in this raucous rundown.
Kohli announced his retirement with 30 Test tons, 9,230 runs, and an average of 46.85. Over 14 years, he played 123 Tests, leading in 68. This section won't mince words: Kohli was, and remains, one of the best Test batters our nation has ever produced.
Kohli's first Test hundred came in 2012 at Adelaide, where he silenced critics and began his sensational career. His peak years in Test cricket were between 2016 to 2019, where he scored 4,208 runs at an average of 66.79 with 16 hundreds and 10 fifties.
Covid-19, however, challenged Kohli's might, as runs began to elude him once the game resumed. Once a run-machine, Kohli's struggles were evident: he went three years without a single Test century between 2020-2022. He could add only three more hundreds to his tally before calling it quits.
Behold the ranking of all his Test hundreds:
30. 103* v Sri Lanka, Galle, 26 Jul 2017India had already accrued a 309-run lead by the time Kohli entered the fray in this match. Playing for a declaration on a flat deck, Kohli delivered, but this centurion slot is a pity for a better champion.
29. 139 v West Indies, Rajkot, 4 Oct 2018India only batted once in this Test match. Kohli played well for 139, but West Indies, led by Keemo Paul, were less than a formidable opposition.
28. 213 v Sri Lanka, Nagpur, 24 Nov 2017Another declaration innings, this time against Sri Lanka at home. M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, and Kohli himself all managed to hit three-figure scores.
27. 200 v West Indies, North Sound, 21 Jul 2016Kohli's first double-century in Test cricket, and a key factor in India declaring their first innings and securing an innings win. But once again, conditions were relatively easy, and the bowling attack lacked teeth.
26. 211 v New Zealand, Indore, 8 Oct 2016New Zealand's attack was hardly menacing, consisting of Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Jeetan Patel, and Mitchell Santner. Kohli duly took advantage.
25. 204 v Bangladesh, Hyderabad, 9 Feb 2017Kohli proved himself to be the best at capitalizing on favorable conditions, scoring 204 in this match. His innings were accompanied by centuries from Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha.
24. 105* v New Zealand, Wellington, 14 Feb 2014Fourth-innings centuries are typically memorable, but this one was overshadowed by India's daunting target of 435 in just over two sessions.
23. 243 v Sri Lanka, Delhi, 2 Dec 2017Kohli's only century on his home ground in Delhi was a thrilling watch, but it pales in comparison to the 27 wickets landed in the match, and the poor fielding endurance of Sri Lanka's players due to Delhi's high pollution levels.
22. 186 v Australia, Ahmedabad, 9 Mar 2023Kohli's drought-breaking hundred came when India had the best batting conditions in a low-scoring Test. He demonstrated his enduring talent with a masterful display.
21. 103 v Sri Lanka, Galle, 12 Aug 2015Kohli helped India recover from 28-2 and take a 192-run first-innings lead. However, Dinesh Chandimal's wild 162 in the next innings and Sri Lanka's dominance in the run chase detracted from Kohli's efforts.
20. 169 v Australia, Melbourne, 26 Dec 2014This was one of Kohli's tons on his golden tour Down Under in 2014, but the sheen is tarnished slightly due to Steve Smith's 192 in the first innings, and Ajinkya Rahane's 147 alongside Kohli. It was his first Test ton as captain, which counts for something.
19. 254* v South Africa, Pune, 10 Oct 2019Kohli's highest Test score was his biggest achievement, but it lacked the challenge provided by a strong South African attack. Three other Indians scored half-centuries, and Mayank Agarwal scored 108 as India only batted once.
18. 103 v Australia, Perth, 22 Nov 2024Kohli's most recent ton came when Australia had the advantageous batting conditions in a low-scoring Test. He proved his mettle by seeing through a tricky period, before accelerating to a century.
17. 235 v England, Wankhede, 8 Dec 2016Perhaps Kohli's best double, it still came against an England attack not well-suited for the conditions. Still, Jayant Yadav scored 104 in this innings, diluting Kohli's shine.
16. 121 v West Indies, Port of Spain, 20 Jul 2023Kohli's 29th century came over a year before his 30th. It helped propel India to 438 in the first innings, which proved too much for West Indies. Rain prevented India from pushing for a win on the final day.
15. 147 v Australia, Sydney, 6 Jan 2015Australia subjugated India in the first innings, but Kohli's knock in the second ensured their lead was only 97. He also scored 46 in the fourth innings as the match ended in a draw. This was his third innings as a Test captain, and his third century.
14. 136 v Bangladesh, Eden Gardens, 22 Nov 2019While Bangladesh weren't the strongest opposition, this was the first pink-ball Test on Indian soil, a new challenge. India's bowlers clinched the match, but Kohli's century ensured an insurmountable lead.
13. 153 v South Africa, Centurion, 13 Jan 2018Most away centuries are special, and this was one of Kohli's. His 153 was half of India's score in the second innings, as no other batter scored more than 46. India went on to lose, and Kohli, as captain, called for his players to "be hard on themselves" and reflect on their poor batting performance.
12. 167 v England, Visakhapatnam, 17 Nov 2016This was a low-scoring Test match, and India's 455 in the first innings set them up for victory. Kohli and Pujara's 226-run partnership showed Kohli's range, opposing conditions, and top-notch batting.
11. 103 v New Zealand, Bengaluru, 31 Aug 2012Kohli's first Test century at home helped India recover from 80-4 to 353 in reply to New Zealand's 365. Given the stage of his career he was at, it was an exceptionally mature knock. He followed it up with an unbeaten 51 to seal victory in the fourth innings.
10. 107 v Australia, Chennai, 22 Feb 2013Kohli's innings here was overshadowed by MS Dhoni's aggressive 224, but was equally crucial in ensuring India raced past Australia's 380 to take a 292-run lead - and eventually win by eight wickets.
9. 103 v England, Nottingham, 18 Aug 2018This was very nearly a Test match with twin Kohli hundreds. First, his 97 helped India post 329 in the first innings. His second-innings century guaranteed that the game was taken out of England's hands in their own backyard.
8. 115 v Australia, Adelaide, 9 Dec 2014The first of two hundreds in this match, Kohli ensured India weren't miles behind a mammoth Australian total of 517. This was also Kohli's first ton Down Under, but in all honesty, it's more cherished because of what followed.
7. 123 v Australia, Perth, 14 Dec 2018Ahead of this year's Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli called this knock at the new Optus Stadium his best in Australia. We make it his third, but it's all subjective. On a spicy wicket, this was the highest score of the match. Kohli's celebration - let the bat do the talking - is now iconic. India went on to lose, but this innings lives on as a testament to Kohli's indomitable spirit.
6. 149 v England, Birmingham, 1 Aug 2018This, before the century in Nottingham, was another lone warrior effort from Kohli. The next highest score in India's innings was 26, as Kohli singlehandedly dragged them to within 13 runs of England's 287. It was a similarly dismal story in the run chase as Kohli scored 51, but got no support as India lost by 31 runs. This was also a satisfying match for Indian fans, who saw Kohli's disastrous 2014 tour of England exorcised in Birmingham.
5. 116 v Australia, Adelaide, 24 Jan 2012Kohli's first-ever Test ton - and one of his best. Australia were never in a position to win this match, but Kohli ground out the runs when Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, and Laxman couldn't. His feat was the first sighting of sweary Kohli in whites, a characteristic he's refrained from indulging since.
4. 141 v Australia, Adelaide, 9 Dec 2014In all likelihood, Kohli's best Test ton was his second in this match, and came after Australia had declared with the confidence that 364 would be too much for India. This was one of the great counterpunches, as Kohli struck at a scarcely belivable 80 in the fourth innings, batting like a man possessed, tearing into Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, and Nathan Lyon. He was the seventh to fall, with India still 60 runs away from a win (they lost by 48), but it was an utterly magnificent display, which no one will deny deserved a happier ending.
Sports enthusiasts who follow cricket news will find fascination in the ranking of Kohli's Test hundreds, which includes some of the best performances in the sport. Among these, his knock of 153 against South Africa in Centurion, an away century, stands out.
In a career filled with numerous sensational performances, Kohli's unbeaten 141 against Australia in Adelaide during the 2014 series represents one of his finest.
