Picture Credit: Twitter
Virat Kohli is all set to play his 100th Test against Sri Lanka, starting on March 4. The India batter made his Test debut against West Indies in 2011 and since then, he has never looked back. Three years after his debut, he was leading the side in Australia when MS Dhoni stepped down from captaincy in the middle of the series.
Ever since taking the charge of Indian cricket in the longest format, Kohli has worked the hardest to take India to new heights. Under his leadership, India achieved enormous success, both at home and overseas. For a format that was dying with the focus shifting to T20, Virat Kohli became the torchbearer. The stylish cricketer never shied away from expressing his love for the longest format and he has reiterated the same thing ahead of his 100th game in Indian whites.
In a small clip released by the BCCI, Kohli talks about his love for the game and emphasized its importance. He starts with "I never thought I would be able to play 100 Test matches". The former India captain continues to speak about his journey so far and in the same light he says that Test cricket is real cricket for him.
"I personally never grew up thinking that I have to score small runs. The idea was to score huge runs. I scored a lot of big double hundreds in junior cricket. I think 7-8 before I made it to first-class cricket. So my idea was to bat long, as much I could... These things were things that really took a lot out of you, revealed and tested your true character and this is something I thoroughly enjoyed. I just felt like Test cricket needed to stay alive because people need to experience this. This is, for me, real cricket," said Kohli.
Notably, Kohli is one of the few Indian cricketers who have played 100 or more than a hundred Test matches. Current India coach Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag are some of the names in the elite list.
