Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan paid a heartfelt tribute to Virat Kohli, the former India captain and Indian cricket’s totem over the past decade, on the occasion of Virat Kohli’s 100th Test.
When India will take field on Virat Kohli’s 100th Test at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, on Friday against Sri Lanka, ‘King’ Kohli will become only the 12th Indian and 71st player overall to play in 100 Tests.
Virat Kohli made his Test debut in 2011, three years after his ODI debut, and soon became the linchpin in the batting line-up with the exit of other greats, including taking the number 4 position following Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement.
Sitting on 99 Tests, Kohli averages 50.39 at the moment – this is despite him not scoring a century for over two years, and what fans have called “out of form” period for the run-machine. He has scored 7962 runs in 99 Tests, having slammed 27 centuries, 7 of which are doubles, and 28 fifties.
Irfan Pathan, whose last stage of his international career coincided when Kohli was into his early years at the highest level, put up an emotional Facebook post on Thursday morning, lauding Kohli for his extensive work as a player and captain to contribute to Test cricket’s image and attracting fans to the TV screens in the longest format, which was believed to be dying away.
In his Facebook post, Irfan Pathan wrote: “Test cricket was limping & that’s when it found a magical physio in Virat Kohli. He came, He conquered & He made everyone love test cricket all over again! Congratulations @virat.kohli on your remarkable achievement.”
Irfan Pathan attached a picture of him with Kohli when the latter was a youngster; both are seen enjoying their time together in the photo.
Virat Kohli went out as India’s most successful Test captain; only Graeme Smith (53 wins), Ricky Ponting (48) and Steve Waugh (41) have led their teams to more Test wins than Kohli’s 40. Kohli led India to 11 Test wins in SENA and West Indies, including the first series victory by an Asian team in Australia in 2018/19.
Here, check out Irfan Pathan’s post ahead of Virat Kohli’s 100th Test:
Test cricket was limping & that’s when it found a magical physio in Virat Kohli. He came, He conquered & He made everyone love test cricket all over again! Congratulations @imVkohli on your remarkable achievement.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 3, 2022
