There hasn’t been too much international cricket in Rajkot but Virat Kohli has been front and centre in the few games that have been played at the venue.
India face England in the third Test of the five-match series between the two sides with the aim to go into the lead. The series started off with England stunning India in Hyderabad in a thriller of a Test match. India then hit back with a victory in the second Test and the series is level at 1-1 going into the third. Both sides have played aggressive cricket almost every session of the series, making it a compelling watch in the first two matches and there is every reason to believe that they will continue to exchange blows for the rest of the matches as well.
Virat Kohli was captain in both Tests that have been played Rajkot thus far(AFP)
The only aspect that seems to be a bit of a disappointment for fans across the board is the fact that India’s talisman Virat Kohli has been ruled out of the series due to personal reasons. At the same time though, there is agreement across the board that no blame can be levelled Kohli’s way for taking the break.
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The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot will be hosting just its third Test match when India and England face each other starting on Thursday. In fact, it hasn’t hosted international cricket too often but Kohli has been front and centre in the few that have been played there. The first Test to be hosted at the SCA Test was between India and England in November 2016 and then it was where the first Test between India and the West Indies was played in October 2018. It has hosted four ODIs between 2013 and 2023. Five T20Is have also been played in Rajkot in the same time period.
Kohli in Rajkot
Kohli was India’s captain in both Tests that they have played thus far in Rajkot. The first match against England ended in a draw while India won against the West Indies by an innings and 272 runs. Kohli scored 40 and an unbeaten 49 against England. Against the West Indies, though, Kohli scored 139 off 230 balls. He shared a 105-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane and then a blistering 133-run stand off just 148 balls with Rishabh Pant, with the latter unsurprisingly doing most of the heavy lifting in the stand.
Kohli is the joint highest scorer in Test matches in Rajkot with Cheteshwar Pujara, with both having scored 228 runs in three innings with a century each. Pujara has also scored a half century, while Kohli has none. In ODIs, Kohli is the highest scorer with 226 runs in four matches at an average of 56.50. He played just two T20Is in Rajkot though, scoring 98 matches at a strike rate of 146.87 with one half-century.
