Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli was felicitated by head coach Rahul Dravid before the day’s play against Sri Lanka on Friday at the IS Bindra Stadium.
Kohli is playing his 100th Test match and he was given a special cap by Rahul Dravid. The talisman became the 12th Indian player to play 100th Test and the 71st overall player.
Kohli made his debut against West Indies at the Sabina Park back in 2011 but could only return with the scores of 4 and 15. Since then Kohli has come a long way in his career as he has taken giant strides at the top level.
Dravid congratulated Kohli for achieving the illustrious milestone while the right-hander was delighted to receive the cap from his childhood hero. Kohli’s wife, Anushka Sharma, also accompanied him during the felicitation ceremony.
Rahul Dravid said, “It’s well deserved, well earned, and hopefully it is just the start of many things to come. As we say in the dressing room, double it up.”
“I want to thank the BCCI and getting my 100th Test cap from one of my childhood heroes is indeed amazing,” Kohli said as Dravid presented him with a special cap.
“It is a special moment for me. My wife is here and so is my brother. Everyone is very proud. It is indeed a team game and it couldn’t have been possible without you. With the amount we play with three formats and an IPL, the one takeaway the next generation can take from me is that I played 100 games in the purest format,” says Kohli.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli becomes the 12th Indian player to play 100 Test matches after Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma. Kohli hasn’t scored a hundred in Test cricket in the last two years and he would look to get a big score in his landmark Test.
India has won the toss and decided to bat first but the skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed after scoring 29 runs when he attempted to play a pull shot but holed out to Suranga Lakmal at deep fine leg.
