Virat Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia, including more than 1300 runs and 6 centuries. But did you know that his most favourite innings is the one where India lost the test match? Yes, Kohli has described his 123-run innings played in the Perth Test of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy as his best innings in Australia.
The Perth ground is counted among the fastest and bouncy grounds in the world, where batsmen are very difficult to play. This is the reason why Kohli described this innings as his most special innings. Only four Indian batsmen have scored centuries on this ground – Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The specialty of all these centuries is that they were made in difficult conditions.
Kohli's first Test century in Adelaide in 2012 and two centuries on the same ground in 2014 are also counted among his brilliant innings. But with Kohli putting Perth's innings at the top, it is clear how challenging that pitch was.
'The toughest pitch I've played on'
"My best innings in Australia is the one where I scored 123 runs in Perth, when we played in the 2018-19 series. I thought that pitch was the toughest pitch for me in Test cricket. Scoring a century on that tour was special for me," Kohli said while answering Mohammed Siraj's question in a video "Ask the Next One" uploaded by the BCCI.
However, India lost that match by an innings and 146 runs. But India recovered quickly from that defeat to win the Melbourne Test and eventually won the series to register their first Test series win in Australia. Barring the Perth innings, Kohli couldn't score many runs in that series but he will always consider it special because it was part of India's series win.