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Virat Kohli says he "never thought" he would come this far and make this landmark appearance. Having scored only 4 and 15 in his debut Test against the West Indies in 2011, Kohli has come a long way in a decade-long journey in which he has amassed 7962 runs at a stellar average of 50.39 in the longest format. Kohli's 100th Test will be against Sri Lanka beginning here on Friday.
Dewald Brevis, who is often compared to the great AB de Villiers, says Sachin Tendulkar has always been his inspiration and he would like to emulate the Indian icon while trying to create his identity in international cricket. The 18-year-old, who has been picked by Mumbai Indians for the upcoming IPL, has been nicknamed 'Baby AB' for his resemblance to de Villiers' playing style. Brevis scored 506 runs in the recent U-19 World Cup, the most in a single edition of the tournament, surpassing flamboyant India opener Shikhar Dhawan's record of 505 runs in the 2004 edition and also picked up seven wickets with his part-time leg-spin. "The way he (Tendulkar) played was always an inspiration to me. My favourite innings of his is the ODI double-century, which happened to be against South Africa. I remember watching the match with my brother - it was an amazing innings," the 18-year-old told 'Mumbaindians.com'.
Virat Kohli over the past decade. From an overenthusiastic young lad who was running all over the place after winning the Under-19 World Cup title as captain in 2008 to ruling world cricket as one of the best batsmen of his generation, Virat's journey as a batsman has been nothing short of a fairytale. The wait for his next international century continues, but there is no cricket critic in the world who can question the former India captain's dedication.
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma credited his predecessor Virat Kohli for improving the side's fortunes in Test cricket in recent years. Speaking to reporters on the eve of India's opening Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, Rohit said his aim is to just take forward from where Kohli had left. Kohli, who will play his 100th Test match in the opening match against Sri Lanka starting Friday, is India's most successful Test captain with 40 victories from 68 matches in the format.
Sachin Tendulkar has congratulated Virat Kohli ahead of his 100th Test appearance, saying that he made an immense contribution to Indian cricket by motivating the next generation. "Congratulations on your 100th Test appearance. What a terrific achievement! It has been fantastic watching you over the years. Numbers will always have their own story, but your real strength is that you have been able to motivate the next generation and this is your immense contribution to the Indian cricket," said Tendulkar in a video posted by BCCI on Twitter. Tendulkar recalled that the first time the senior Indian cricket team had heard of Kohli was in 2008 in Australia.
All eyes will be on Virat Kohli on the occasion of his 100th Test match when India take on Sri Lanka in the first of a two-match Test series, at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali starting Friday. Kohli, who had been given rest in the recently-concluded T20I series, will become the 12th Indian cricketer to play 100 Test matches -- the others being Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer is likely to be a part of the team after his three consecutive fifties in the 3-0 T20I series clean sweep against Sri Lanka. Here is how we think India will line up against Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Mohali:
Hailed by many as the 'Last of the Mohicans' in cricket's purest format, Virat Kohli will be focussed on making his 100th appearance memorable while "white-ball legend" Rohit Sharma plots the demolition of an out-of-depth Sri Lanka as India's 35th Test captain in the series-opener starting in Mohali on Friday. If one looks back at Indian team's journey since its inception in international cricket back in 1932, it has been about stars, superstars, and megastars, who become the reason for the footfall at turnstiles of various stadiums across the country. It was the case when Sunil Gavaskar scored his 10,000th run, Sachin Tendulkar bade the most emotional farewell that cricket has ever seen and now the spotlight will be firmly on Kohli, whose domineering presence has turned an international match into a footnote.
Sri Lanka at Mohali, there's another cricketer who will be hungry to take the ground on Friday. Local boy Shubman Gill, one of the architects of the historic win against Australia at the Gabba, is most likely to play his first Test in front of his home crowd. Gill's memorable 91 runs in the chase of the famous Brisbane Test, helped India breach the 'Gabba' fortress and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2021. That innings was like a trailer of a blockbuster career in the making. A product of India's robust domestic set-up, Shubman gave glimpses of his batting prowess by tackling the fiery trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc with ease. The Punjab youngster's knock also sent out a message that the next generation of Indian cricket is ready to take forward the legacy of the stalwarts of the past decades.