Virat Kohli marked his elevation to India's Test captaincy by smashing his fourth century of the series on day three of the fourth Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Kohli, who was appointed captain when MS Dhoni suddenly retired after the third Test, produced a sparkling 140 with 20 boundaries to go with his twin centuries in the first Test at Adelaide and his highest score of 169 in Melbourne's Third Test.

Kohli's 500-run mark

The 26-year-old has now become the first Test captain in cricket history to score three centuries in first three innings. Australian Greg Chappell had scored a century each in his first two innings as skipper against the West Indies at Brisbane in 1975.

Kohli also surpassed the earlier record of batting legend Rahul Dravid who scored 619 runs from eight innings in the 2003-04 tour of Australia. Kohli, who came into this match with an aggregate of 499 runs, has now totalled 639 from seven innings.

Kohli's 4th ton in series

He is also the second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to register four tons in a Test series. The former Indian captain did it twice against the West Indies in 1971 and 1978-79.

On Thursday, Kohli brought up his 4th three-figure mark (3rd consecutive as captain) of the series. This was also Kohli's 10th Test hundred in 33 Test matches.

KL Rahul's SCG show

The feisty batsman, who made his Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies, also became the first overseas batsman since Herbert Sutcliffe (1924-25) and Walter Hammond (1928-29) to score four hundreds in a Test series in Australia.

Kohli was named captain in the first Test at Adelaide after regular skipper Dhoni was ruled out due to an injury. Though India lost the match but Kohli impressed with his batting with scores 115 and 141.

Kohli made 140 not out

Source: IBN