Kohli's innings reminded me of Sir Viv... and it's set the match up to be a classic

SIMON HUGHES AT EDGBASTON: His application, his precise footwork, his amazing poise, his classic shots, his improvisations, his melodramatic reactions and of course his eagle eye, made it a gripping Test match hundred

^{Virat Kohli made 149 for India against England}

Specsavers are an appropriate sponsor of this Test match.

You need special eyesight (or prescription glasses) to be able to negotiate the awkward movement off this Edgbaston pitch, utilised by some slick operators. And the England slip cordon, standing perilously close to the bat because of the low bounce, needed to keep their eyes seriously peeled. 

Virat Kohli’s 20-20 vision alone kept India in the game. No other Indian made it out of the 20s. Kohli’s eyesight and technique were forensically examined by his nemesis Jimmy Anderson, either side of lunch. Had Kohli changed his technique after his horrors here last times?

Not necessarily his footwork, but definitely his mindset. As predicted, Anderson plied him with tantalising balls outside off stump. Kohli resisted playing at the majority of them. He was definitely less intent on getting bat to ball - especially against Anderson. There were countless examples of a good leave, even when Anderson tried to angle one back into him from a similar line or went slightly wider of the crease.  

^{Kohli was crucial for India as they tried to chase down England's first-innings 287}

Anderson kept teasing, Kohli kept resisting. Apart from one angled bat defensive stroke to a ball four inches wide which bounced and left him a fraction, his judgement was impeccable. That, of course, was England’s one opportunity.

The edge carried low to Dawid Malan at second slip. But his minces weren’t working properly and the edge went down. And how he made England pay. 

His duel with Anderson was the essence of the day. Anderson the perfectly oiled bowling machine, Kohli the immoveable obstacle. Anderson took Kohli’s wicket four times at a cost of 19 runs in the 2014 series.

Kohli wasn’t to be prised out this time. He carefully blocked the off stump deliveries, went up on his toes and rode the occasional extra bounce, and steered the straighter outswingers to safety with an angled bat, emulating Kumar Sangakkara who always believed in England that you look to ‘go with the swing’ and play square of the wicket rather than defend elaborately straight.

^{India finished the day 22 runs behind, having taken one England wicket in the second innings}

Surprisingly, Anderson never tried the inswinger but he gave Kohli nothing; not a sniff of an opportunity. In all he bowled 74 balls to the Indian captain, and conceded only 18 runs, eight of which came off the edge (one via Bairstow’s glove, the other the one that Buttler got his hand to). There was not a single authentic boundary conceded to Kohli by England’s sultan of swing. It was a three-hour stalemate.

Kohli’s brilliance in garnering 92 runs from the last two wickets, only six of which were provided by his partners, had a bit of Viv Richards' amazing one-day innings in 1984 when he put on 106 for the 10th wicket with Michael Holding (who made 12) about it. Never mind the power and the shot range, Kohli has just a hint of Richards’ strut too.

His application, his precise footwork, his amazing poise, his classic shots, his improvisations, his melodramatic reactions and of course his eagle eye, made it one of the classic Test match hundreds and kept the game in the balance. Don’t take your eyes off this one it could be a classic.  

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