India captain Rohit Sharma hailed Virat Kohli’s brilliant journey as a Test cricketer and said the Indian team will try to make his 100th Test match at Mohali special for him. As India take on Sri Lanka in the series opener in Mohali, former captain Kohli will be in his 100th Test and Rohit will lead India in a Test match for the first time in his successful career.
“It’s been a long journey for him, and it’s been a wonderful one. He’s done exceptionally well in this format, he’s changed so many things in the way the team moves forward. It’s been a hell of a ride for him and will be for years to come,” Rohit said during a virtual press conference.
“We definitely want to make it special for him, let’s hope we have a good five days of cricket. As a team, the series we won in Australia in 2018 was a very good series for our side and Virat was captain at the time. As a singles player, best memory as a batsman, his Test hundred in South Africa in 2013, the pitch was challenging and there was a lot of bounce,” he added.
Speaking further about that knock, Rohit said: “A lot of guys were playing in South Africa for the first time to face Morkel and Steyn. It was never going to be easy, but the way Virat hit in the first and second innings, that was one of the best knocks of his that I remember vividly. That beats his knock in Perth.
Rohit added that a lot of credit goes to Kohli for everything the Indian team has achieved in Test cricket lately. Virat Kohli has come a long way since his longest-form debut in 2011 against West Indies. 27 test centuries later in the longest format, Kohli certainly knows how to score big and cut out the outside noise for better performance.
Virat Kohli’s last international hundreds came against Bangladesh in 2019 and ever since, the entire cricket fraternity has been eagerly awaiting the star’s batsman to register his 71st hundreds.
With fans up to 50 percent utilization be allowed in the PCA Stadium At Mohali, Virat Kohli’s landmark test will have a celebratory outlook. PCA officials have said Kohli will be congratulated by the national association and BCCI officials have also been invited to the Test which starts the 2 Test series against Sri Lanka.
“I look forward to just winning games and doing the right things with the right players in the squad. As a test team we are in a very good position at the moment, credit to Virat for getting us up and running in this format. What he did with the test team was brilliant to see, I just have to pick it up where he left off,” said Rohit.
“We’re halfway down the WTC table, I don’t see anything wrong with this format, we want to improve every game we play, that’s going to be the benchmark we set for ourselves. We look forward to correcting our mistakes. no team is perfect,” he added.
