India’s ex-skipper of all three formats Virat Kohli will make history on 4th March, Friday, standing in his 100th Test match versus Sri Lanka in Mohali. He will become the 12th Indian cricketer to enter the 3-digit club in red-ball cricket in India’s very next Test match. The terrific batter could have already achieved the feat if he had not missed the second Test versus South Africa due to injury recently.
Kohli stepped down as India’s Test skipper after the team’s third test match versus South Africa. The first Test match of Ind vs SL series will be men in blue’s first encounter of the format without Kohli’s leadership. In the recent developments of India cricket, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the captain, which makes him India’s full-time skipper following the earlier appointment as Kohli’s successor in limited-over cricket.
Despite Kohli’s absence from the toss yard, the first test will be centred around him since he will be achieving the great milestone of standing in the 100th Test match. Lasting till 100 Tests already gives an accomplishment to the player, that even 100 ODIs and T20Is cannot give. This is something extraordinary the former Indian skipper will be achieving.
What makes Kohli’s account more special is his legacy as a skipper. The right-handed batsman has 40 wins in 68 Tests as a captain at a winning percentage of 58.8. Not only this, but the batter is the only one to excel an average of 50 since making the format’s debut versus the West Indies back in 2011. Others are at a distance from him since the combination of being India’s most successful Test skipper with an average of 50+ is not what everyone can do.
Virat Kohli’s record combo is far better than others
As far as other Indians who have played 100 or more Test matches are considered, the names of Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (163), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengsarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113) and Virender Sehwag (103) are notable. These players have also captained the team in red-ball cricket. However, only Ganguly had been able to maintain a winning percentage of 42.8 since the rest stayed below him.
No doubt, the above-mentioned names have been Indian cricketing giants known among the cricket world, but none of them have met Kohli’s legacy of topping in terms of leadership, as well as sole batting. Unluckily, Kohli stepped down as the skipper on a sudden note, without an ICC trophy.
Kohli, who has featured in 99 Test matches so far, has 7962 runs. The day is not far when he will be crossing the 8000 run-mark, and even joining the elite list of Test cricketers with 10000+ Test runs. So far, only five Indian cricketers have crossed the 8000 run-mark in the format. Kohli’s 100th Test might see him doing so. However, his form has been shattering for the last two years, but the pressure-free batter is once again on the verge of triggering his shots.
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