Captain Kohli to the fore and other talking points from India's thumping win over Sri Lanka

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  • Virat Kohli has been on a phenomenal run while captaining India.

    India registered a thumping win in the second Test against Sri Lanka to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

    Ravichandran Ashwin notched up his 300th wicket as the islanders were bowled out for 166 runs in their second innings to hand India a massive victory by an innings and 239 runs.

    Here, we look at the key talking points after a commanding performance by Virat Kohli’s men.

    ASHWIN BECOMES QUICKEST TO 300 WICKETS

    On the eve of the fourth day of the Nagpur Test, Ashwin required four wickets to become the quickest man to breach 300 Test wickets. Playing in his 54th Test, the Indian off-spinner was looking to better Dennis Lillee’s feat with the former Australian pacer having taken 56 Test to notch up the figures.

    Ashwin had picked up three wickets in the day when the last Sri Lankan pair of Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Gamage were at the crease. In the end, it all came together perfectly for the 31-year-old as he uprooted the stumps of Gamage with a wicked carom-ball to etch his name in the record books.

    The off-spinner also completed 50 wickets in the calendar year for the third year in a row, making him the only bowler to do so along with Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

    SRI LANKA’S YEAR OF MISERY

    While the results in limited-overs cricket have been abysmal for Sri Lanka in 2017, they have not fared much better with the red ball either. Despite becoming the first side to beat Pakistan in a Test series at the UAE in over 12 years, Dinesh Chandimal’s men have endured a torrid time in the calendar year.

    The loss at Nagpur is the seventh of the year for the Sri Lankans, making it one of the worst years in Test history. They were on the receiving end of seven defeats in 2015 too. A defeat in the final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi would hence condemn the islanders to their worst year in the longest format of the game.

    It has been a miserable year for Dinesh Chandimal and his men.

    It has been a miserable year for Dinesh Chandimal and his men.

    CAPTAIN KOHLI TO THE FORE

    The Indian skipper has really flourished with the bat ever since taking up the captaincy reins. 2017 has been a really special year for Kohli with the double-hundred on Sunday his 10th century across all formats in the calendar year.

    No other captain in history has managed as many tons in a calendar year as Kohli bettered the record of nine centuries set by Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith. The 29-year-old’s 213-run knock is his fifth double-ton as skipper which makes him the joint highest along with Brian Lara.  Sir Don Bradman, Graeme Smith and Michael Clarke have four double-hundreds to their name as captain.

    CENTURIES GALORE FOR INDIA

    Four Indian batsmen breached the three-figure mark in the Nagpur Test with Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Rohit Sharma all registering hundreds in the match.

    This is only the third instance that India has had four centurions in an innings in their entire Test history. The previous two instances have come against South Africa in Kolkata (2010) and against Bangladesh in Mirpur (2007).

    With Vijay, Pujara and Kohli’s ton, this is the fifth time that India’s top-order has three hundreds amongst themselves. It was the islanders who were at the receiving end the last time such a feat was achieved for India in 2009 at Kanpur.

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