When India take on Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series in Mohali, it will be a landmark game for Virat Kohli. The former Indian captain will step onto the field for the 100th time in Test cricket. He is all set to become the 12th Indian and the 71st player overall to play 100 Test matches.
Kohli made his Test debut back in 2011. It was the first Test of the series against West Indies at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The Delhi-born batter didn’t have the best of starts to his Test career. He got scores of four & 15 and both times Kohli walked out to bat, it was Dravid who was batting at the other end.
The current Indian head coach recalled that in BCCI’s video tribute and also admired the way Kohli evolved as a player over the years. Dravid also lauded Kohli’s fitness levels and believes that he has a lot more to offer in the coming years.
“When he [Virat Kohli] played his first Test match, I was batting alongside him. It has been incredible to see how he has grown over the last 10 years or so. The way he has grown as a cricketer and a person. He has carried this team for a long time, been the captain for the last five or six years of the last 10 years he has played in,”
It is a great achievement for one of India’s greatest players. Just looking at his fitness and where he is, he has a lot more to go and I am sure it is not something that he will be satisfied with,”
India’s head coach Rahul Dravid said.
After 99 Test matches, Kohli has amassed 7962 runs at an average of 50.39. He has recorded 28 Test hundreds along with 28 half-centuries. He is currently sixth on the list of leading run-getters for India in the longest format and also has the fourth-most hundreds.
This game also marks the passing of the baton from Kohli to Rohit Sharma as Test captain as the former has stepped down as the Test captain. It was back in December 2014 that Kohli last did not captain the Indian Test side.
