It won't be an exaggeration to term the stellar Virat Kohli 'A man of milestone' as he is all set to take the centre stage on Friday (February 4) in the first Test against Sri Lanka which will also mark his 100th match in the longest format.
On the eve of the historical match, Captain Rohit Sharma while addressing a virtual press conference, was effusive in praising his teammate when he lauded former skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli ahead of his landmark 100th Test, saying he deserves all the credit for putting the team in a good position in the format.
"As Test team, we stand in a good position. Whole credit goes to Virat for how we have been as a Test team. I have to take it from where he has left," Rohit said during the pre-match press-conference.
Kohli's stupendous run with bat saw him joining the leadership group in 2014 and he replaced MS Dhoni as full-time Test captain during the 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India's most successful Test captain, Kohli captained Team India to 40 wins in 68 matches.
India have become one of the most dominant forces in Test cricket under him and were often placed at the top spot during his captaincy stint.
Apart from being India's most successful Test captain, Kohli is also one of the two Asian captains with a series win in Australia. India only lost 2 home Tests under his captaincy and never suffered a series defeat at home. Rohit has big shoes to fill and has his task cut out going ahead.
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.
Rohit will start his Test captaincy journey when he steps out to lead India against Sri Lanka in the opening game.
"My philosophy of captaincy will remain the same in Tests too. Stay in the present, analyse the situation and then react. Don't want to think too far ahead. We all know it is a different format. No comparison with ODIs," Rohit said.
The 33-year-old was also asked about his personal goals in Test cricket, to which he said," What should I say? I have targets set for the team. Yes, I have played around 40 Tests. There have been a lot of ups and downs. But I have learned a lot because of that too. I have a big job in front of me and I am focussed on that," Rohit added.
On asked about the Mohali pitch, Rohit said," Pitch seems to be a little dry and the weather here is a little cooler in the mornings. Typical Indian wicket. No big difference. We think it will turn. We are assuming it will".
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's squad: 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.
