Spirits among teammates and fans alike were extremely high as Virat Kohli, former captain of the Indian national cricket team and batsman of the Royal Challengers Bangalore; recently reached a significant milestone in his cricketing career by participating in his 100th Test match, a triumph only achieved by 11 other Indian cricketers in history.
On March 4, the 33-year-old batsman entered the field in Mohali to participate in the match against India’s opponents, the Sri Lankan team. Later, the cricketer posted on his Twitter account, thanking his family, teammates and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Among the many congratulations received by the high-profile batsman were messages of support by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, cricketing legend Sachin “The Master Blaster” Tendulkar and fellow former captain of Team India, Sourav Ganguly (who has previously been involved in a famous falling out with Kohli). Head coach Rahul Dravid had the honour of presenting a special, well-earned 100th cap to Kohli, who scored 7,962 runs in his career.
The Indian Test cricket team has proven to be an exceptional line-up for this year, with favourable odds given to them by some of the best online cricket betting sites, such as Parimatch. If the odds are any indication, one can expect some great actions from the team, with many notable achievements and big wins on the horizon. This is further supported by the excellent display of skill against Sri Lanka, who were bowled out for 174 runs in their first innings, and 178 runs in their second innings. Ravindra Jadeja, who recently took the mantle of number one ranked all-rounder in Test cricket, was impressive in his performance.
Looking back on a highly eventful career, some notable moments in Kohli’s career began at his ascension into the role of Test captain for the first time in a match against Australia in Adelaide back on December 9, 2014. Shortly after, following an injury of Mahendra Singh Dhoni where the new captain made a highly noticeable contribution by scoring 115 runs in his first innings and a subsequent 141 runs in his second innings. Although the Indian team wouldn’t taste victory for that Test, Kohli was recognised for chasing victory rather than merely a draw despite starting at a disadvantaged position.
Kohli would later lead India’s Test cricket team to their long-desired first victory in Australia, a feat that had been sought after for as many as seven decades prior to the achievement. Virat Kohli has said that up to that point, this achievement was one of his best achievements in his career, which were supported by his coach, Ravi Shastri, who went as far as to state that the crucial difference needed to achieve this was Kohli’s leadership skill. This leadership would see India rise to the top position in Test rankings, where the team held the coveted post for over three years.
Following the rise of India’s Test cricket, his performance eventually began to decline amid the unforeseen troubles in 2019, which led Kohli to make the difficult decision to leave his role as the T20 skipper. This was due to him wanting to maintain leadership in other game formats which led to his subsequent arguments with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and further being relieved of his other roles.
Through the rise and fall of Kohli, he has proven himself as a capable batsman and an inspiring leader to his teammates. He has shown excellent sportsmanship and camaraderie towards his team, which has earned him recognition globally by his supporters and rivals alike.
