This is a feat that only 11 other Indians have achieved in 90 years of Test cricket. It should be celebrated for all the wonderful memories that Kohli has given to cricket fans and it also marks his brilliance as a batsman.
Kohli himself will be happy to reach this stage, as he has always attached great importance to Test cricket. (“… because this is real cricket for me”). He diligently worked to make India the best Test team in the world, in which he also got success to a great extent. During his seven-year captaincy reign, India dominated the opposition at home and conquered several boundaries abroad.
“I honestly never thought that I would play 100 Test matches. It has been a long journey. We played a lot of cricket while playing those 100 Test matches. God has been kind. I worked really hard for my fitness. A big moment for me, for my family, for my coach,” Kohli said in a video posted by BCCI.
But Kohli will not be satisfied, as it is his nature. He is in pursuit of excellence in everything he does and everything he has achieved in his cricketing career is a byproduct of that one-minded pursuit. The hundredth Test is also another milestone in his long journey.
In his message ahead of Kohli’s 100th Test, Sachin Tendulkar also hinted at the discovery of Kohli, in different words.
Tendulkar told bcci.tv, “…we played cricket together for India and not for long, but with all the time we spent together, it was clear that you were eager to learn things. Keep working on the game and keep getting better.”
But this milestone comes at a time when Kohli is probably going through his second toughest phase as a cricketer. (The hardest part was when he lost his father as a teenager but still came to the field to save the Delhi team in a Ranji Trophy game.)
Recently, he stepped down as T20I and Test captain and was dropped as ODI captain. Although he has said that he quit the captaincy to reduce his workload, circumstances and the words of some BCCI office-bearers gave it a different look.
The lean patch from Kohli’s bat hasn’t helped either. He hasn’t scored a century in 932 days. His last Test century came in November 2019 and ODI century in August the same year.
This is an anomaly. Because, he is someone who has scored centuries at a better clip than any batsman in the history of cricket.
Take it as a sample, Kohli has scored 43 ODI hundreds since his ODI debut in August 2008. The second best in this period is Rohit Sharma with 29.
In Test cricket, since their debut in June 2011, only Australia’s Kohli and Steve Smith have scored 27 centuries each. (Smith has played 77 Tests).
But if we look at the total number of international centuries since Kohli’s debut in 2008, he is way ahead of everyone with 70 centuries in all formats combined. South Africa’s Hashim Amla is second with 50 international centuries, while Australia’s David Warner is third with 43 centuries and Rohit is at the fourth position with 41.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that Kohli is the most prolific all-format century collector of all time. He has scored a century in every 7.25 innings, which is better than the greats like Sachin Tendulkar (7.82), Ricky Ponting (9.40) and Kumar Sangakkara (10.57).
On Friday, when India take on Sri Lanka in the first Test in Mohali, Kohli will take on Indian whites for the 100th time. He can score many more hundreds, but this century is special and worth celebrating.
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