IND VS SL: Testimony of his hard work, Bumrah on Kohli's 100th Test
IND VS SL: Testimony of his hard work, Bumrah on Kohli’s 100th Test
India vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah has said Virat Kohli's upcoming 100th appearance in Tests is the "testimony of his hard work".
The first Test between India and Sri Lanka, which is set to begin on March 4 in Mohali, is going to be Kohli's 100th Test. Unfortunately, there will be no crowd in the PCA stadium to witness the memorable moment. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the decision to play the first Test behind closed doors due to the latest increase in covid-19 cases in the Punjab city.
In the pre-match conference, Bumrah said the crowd does bring energy to the contest but the players can only focus on the controllable.
Bumrah's comments have come after a section of fans expressed their disappointment over playing Kohli's 100th Test in front of empty stands. While the T20I series against Sri Lanka was played with spectators in both Lucknow and Kolkata, the 2nd Test in Bengaluru will also have 50 percent capacity at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
"Right now we're focussed on what we can control. Of course, if there's a crowd it's great since they bring energy. But that's not in our hands. We can only focus on trying to win the match," Bumrah said
Kohli is going to become the 11th Indian cricketer to play 100 Tests after Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (163), VVS Laxman (134), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengsarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113), Ishant Sharma (105), Harbhajan Singh (103), and Virender Sehwag (103).
"It is always a special achievement for a player to play 100 Tests. Virat has contributed a lot to this team and will continue to do so. It is another feather on his cap and I would like to congratulate Kohli. It is a testimony of his hard work," the fast bowler added further.
Rohit Sharma will lead India for the first time in Tests after he was named the replacement for Kohli. The latter stepped down as India's Test skipper following India's 2-1 series defeat in South Africa. Last year, Kohli had also quit India's T20I captaincy before being sacked as the ODI skipper.