Virat Kohli's 3 most memorable knocks that changed matches

Virat Kohli has produced some of the most memorable batting performances in international cricket across formats and conditions. Three innings in particular stand out for the pressure they were played under and the context that surrounded each of them.

These knocks span from a bonus-point chase in Australia to a seaming English pitch and a deteriorating Adelaide surface on Day 5, each revealing a different dimension of Kohli's batting.

Here are top three impactful performances of Virat Kohli:

1. 133* vs Sri Lanka, Hobart, 2012

At Bellerive Oval in Hobart on February 28, 2012, India needed to chase 321 against Sri Lanka within 40 overs to earn a bonus point and keep their Commonwealth Bank triangular series final hopes alive. Kohli walked in at 86 for 2 and proceeded to score 133* off 86 balls, striking 16 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 154.65, with India completing the chase in 36.4 overs.

Sri Lanka's total had been built on Tillakaratne Dilshan's 160* and Kumar Sangakkara's 105, and Lasith Malinga was among the bowlers tasked with defending it. Kohli scored 44 runs off 15 deliveries from Malinga alone, including 24 runs in a single over, and added a 115-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir before accelerating through the final stages. It was also his 6th ODI hundred while chasing, an early marker of his reputation as a chase specialist.

2. 149 vs England, Edgbaston, 2018

At Edgbaston, Birmingham, on August 1, 2018, Kohli walked out to bat for India in seaming English conditions during the first Test of the series against England, with the side in the middle of a collapse. He scored 149 off 225 balls, hitting 22 fours and 1 six, and single-handedly rescued India's innings from a precarious position.

The innings carried added weight because of what had come before it. On his previous England tour in 2014, Kohli had managed only 134 runs across 10 innings at an average of 13.40. The 149 at Edgbaston in 2018 was his maiden Test century on English soil and is widely regarded as his finest Test innings, even though India lost the match.

3. 141 vs Australia, Adelaide, 2014

At Adelaide Oval on December 9, 2014, in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli led India in the fourth innings while chasing 364 for victory on a pitch that was deteriorating on Day 5. He scored 141 off 175 balls and shared a 185-run partnership with Murali Vijay, who contributed 99, as Nathan Lyon spun the ball sharply throughout.

It was Kohli's first Test as captain, having been handed the role after MS Dhoni was unavailable for the match. India fell just short of the target despite the effort. Kohli had also scored 115 in the first innings of the same match, making him only the fourth Indian to score centuries in both innings of a Test.