India demolished Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs to win the second Test at Nagpur's Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium on Monday (November 27). The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber. It was a memorable match for captain Virat Kohli and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Kohli hit his fifth double century while Ashwin took eight wickets to complete 300 victims in Test cricket, becoming the quickest to the milestone.
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The 29-year-old Kohli picked up the Man-of-the-match award for his magnificent 213. With this latest honour he joined some of the Indian greats as far as the Player-of-the-match trophies were concerned.
This was Kohli's sixth Man-of-the-match award in his 62nd Test. Head coach Ravi Shastri, Harbhajan Singh, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Ravindra Jadeja are the other Indians who have picked up six awards in Tests.
Kohli won his first Man-of-the-match trophy against New Zealand in September 2012 in Bengaluru. He had scored 103 and 51 not out in India's five-wicket victory.
The Indian record for most Man-of-the-match awards in Tests is held by former captain and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. In his illustrious 200-Test career, he bagged 14 awards. The next best is Rahul Dravid with 11. The world record holder is South Africa's Jacques Kallis with 23.
After receiving the Man-of-the-match award, Kohli said he wants to score "daddy hundreds" as they benefit the team.
"I always wanted to better myself in that aspect, scoring daddy hundreds, for the simple reason that the team benefits. When you lose concentration after a hundred, maybe two wickets can fall quickly. And a set batsman can play shots easier than a new batsman so I started thinking in that way and my fitness helps me bat for longer periods," Kohli said.
Among the current Indian Test players, Ashwin has the maximum Man-of-the-match awards with seven.
Man-of-the-match awards won by Virat Kohli in Tests
1. Vs New Zealand (Bengaluru) - August-September 2012
2. Vs South Africa (Johannesburg) - December 2013
3. Vs England (Visakhapatnam) - November 2016
4. Vs England (Mumbai) - December 2016
5. Vs Bangladesh (Hyderabad) - February 2017
6. Vs Sri Lanka (Nagpur) - November 2017
Most Player-of-the-match awards in Tests for Indians
14 - Sachin Tendulkar
11 - Rahul Dravid
10 - Anil Kumble
8 - Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag
7 - Javagal Srinath, Ravichandran Ashwin
6 - Ravi Shastri, Harbhajan Singh, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli
All stats from espncricinfo
