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India are battle ready for the first Test against Sri Lanka which is slated to kick start on Friday (February 4) in Mohali and captain Rohit Sharma wants to make this match memorable for Virat Kohli who will be playing his 100th match in the longest format.
On the eve of the first Test match, while addressing a press conference skipper Rohit was asked about Virat's jouney enroute to the historical100th Test.
"It’s been a brilliant journey. It’s been a long journey. He has done exceedingly well in this format. It’s been brilliant to watch that. One hell of a ride for him. We definitely want to make it special for him and let’s hope we have good five days for him," Rohit said.
The 33-year-old was also asked about his favourite Virat moment to which Rohit said," The best memory as a batter for me is the knock he played in SA in 2013. A challenging wicket full of bounce and facing the likes of Dale Steyn & Jacques Kallis, we were playing there for the first time. But the manner in which Virat batted and scored a ton. It was a knock I clearly remember".
Not just this, Virat is also nearing another massive feat as he gets ready to take the field against Sri Lanka. The right-handed batsman is 38 runs away from reaching 8000 runs in Test cricket which will be another feather in Virat's cap. It is a big achievement for the former Indian skipper as very few cricketers have been able to score as many runs in the longest format of the game.
Virat, who will become only the 12th player from India to play 100 Test matches, will also become the fifth-fastest to score 8000 runs in Test cricket if he does it in his next game. The thirty-three-year-old batsman will join greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, and Rahul Dravid.
India, who are coming from a high of a T20I series sweep against Sri Lanka, will look to continue their winning momentum to this Test series.
The second Test match is scheduled for March 12 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Kona Bharat (wk), Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Priyank Panchal.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Dhanajaya De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chammeera, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nssanka, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne.
