Virat Kohli’s 100th Test: There have been 10 instances of batsmen scoring a century in his hundredth Test match (with Ricky Ponting doing it in both the innings of his 100th Test). However, none of them has been from an Indian.
Virat Kohli, India’s talisman batter and former captain, will play his landmark 100th Test on Friday against Sri Lanka at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. He will become the 12th Indian cricketer to play 100 career Tests.
Virat Kohli has already been struggling to break his century rut, with his last international ton coming in November 2019. The wait for his 71st has now gone for over two years. Since his last century, he has, though, 24 half-centuries across formats, with a best of 94*, however couldn’t convert any of them into a three-figure score.
The highest score by an Indian in his 100th Test match is 64 – scored by VVS Laxman against Australia in 2008 in Nagpur. And only three other Indian batters – Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid – have recorded fifties in their respective 100th Test matches.
This clearly indicates that the batsmen have been under immense pressure when playing in their landmark 100th Test matches. So much that it affected their performances.
Virat Kohli, already under heavy scrutiny for failing to reach a three-digit mark for more than two years, will have all eyeballs on him despite him not being the skipper anymore.
Virat Kohli has the chance to become the first Indian batsman to register a hundred in his 100th Test. That he could break his century less streak in his hundredth Test match would be a cherry on top.
Despite suffering a dip in numbers in recent years, the Delhi-born batsman continues to average slightly over 50 in all three formats – such was his staggering dominance in world cricket in the previous decade.
Ahead of the Mohali Test match, newly appointed vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah said this about Kohli’s historic upcoming hundredth Test: “It’s a big big day, big match for Virat Kohli. He’s obviously contributed towards our team a lot.”
Highest Score by an Indian in the 100th Test
64: VVS Laxman
55: Kapil Dev
54: Sachin Tendulkar
52: Rahul Dravid
48: Sunil Gavaskar
43: Sourav Ganguly#INDvSL #ViratKohli— ComeOn Cricket ??? (@ComeOnCricket) March 1, 2022
