I never thought I would play 100 Test matches, God has been kind: Virat Kohli

India’s prolific batter Virat Kohli is approaching a massive achievement of playing 100 Tests for India with the upcoming Test in Mohali against Sri Lanka starting on March 4. The former India skipper has been one of the most consistent batters going around in the last decade and there are hardly a few records that he hasn’t broken yet. The 33-year-old has scored 7962 runs so far and is among the very few cricketers to average above 50 in all the formats.

There has been never been doubts over Kohli’s love and passion for Test cricket and his commitment on the field is a testimony of the amount of respect he has for the game. By playing his 100th Test, Kohli will join the Indian elite list of cricketers to have achieved the landmark and will only be the 12th Indian cricketer to do so.

I have worked really hard for my fitness: Virat Kohli

Kohli mentioned that he never dreamt of playing 100 Tests for India and recognized the immense difficulties of playing the format in a longer run. He was quite grateful to be on the verge of making a massive achievement and noted that it is a proud moment for him and his entire family along with his coach.

“I honestly never thought I would play 100 Test matches. It has been a long journey. We played a lot of cricket over the course of playing those 100 Test matches. A lot of international cricket. I am just grateful that I’ve been able to make it to 100. God has been kind. I have worked really hard for my fitness. It’s a big moment for me, for my family, for my coach, who is also very happy and very proud of this Test match as long as I am concerned,” Kohli said in a video posted by BCCI.

Kohli added that he had always set his mind on playing those big innings and never kept his goals confined. He also was quite vocal about Test cricket being the ultimate format and wanted it to stay for a long time.

“I never grew up thinking that I have to score small runs, the idea was to score big runs. I scored a lot of double hundreds in junior cricket. My idea was to bat long and I enjoyed doing that. These things took a lot out of you and it revealed your true character. Test cricket needed to stay alive, for me, this is real cricket,” he added.