New Delhi: On the verge of becoming 12th Indian to achieve the milestone of playing 100 Tests, the star Indian batter Virat Kohli on Thursday said he “never thought” he would come this far and make this landmark appearance.
In a video released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Kohli said, "I honestly never thought I would play 100 Test matches. It has been a long journey. We played a lot of cricket over the course of playing those 100 Test matches".
“A lot of International cricket. I am just grateful that I’ve been able to make it to 100.” Kohli will join an elite list of Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma to play 100 Tests.
“God has been kind. I have worked really hard for my fitness. It’s a big moment for me, for my family, for my coach, who is also very happy and very proud of this Test match as long as I am concerned,” Kohli said.
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Kohli made his Test debut against West Indies in 2011, in which he scored four and 15 runs. After this, the veteran batsman did not hesitate to score runs and till now he has scored 7962 runs in the longest format at an average of 50.39.
The Indian team will play a two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home. It will start with the Mohali Test on March 4. This will be the 100th Test of Virat Kohli's career. After this, Team India has to play the second Test against Sri Lanka in Bangalore from March 12. This will be a day-night Test.