As Virat Kohli gets set to make his 100th appearance in T20 international cricket his teammates such as skipper Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya pour the former India captain with wishes and express how much he has done for the country. Kohli’s hard work and dedication is what has created his legacy and his teammates were not shy to address their respect and gratitude for the talented right-hander. The stage is set for Virat, as India will face Pakistan on Sunday (August 28) in what will be his 100th T20I for the country.
On Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blue’, the Indian team gave best wishes to Virat Kohli as he is set to become the only Indian cricketer to play 100 international matches in all three formats for the country. Current India captain Rohit Sharma said, “We know that his hunger and passion is unmatchable, every time you see him he come out with different energy all the time and you know it’s definitely not easy to play 100 games for India across formats. So I would firstly congratulate him for that, it’s a massive achievement, every time we see him, his game is at a different level, I hope Asia Cup will be no different, massive player for us without a doubt. I hope you know, he’s at his best for the team’s sake.”
Recently introduced to international cricket and one of the upcoming challengers at the number 3 spot for Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav said, “100 T20 internationals, I think it’s another milestone for you Virat Bhai. I feel the way you are on the field, be the same way, electrifying and spread as much knowledge as possible for everyone. I love to see you on the ground as you are, and we learn a lot. Just be yourself and enjoy.”
Kohli’s Under-19 and longtime senior teammate Ravindra Jadeja was also not shy to appreciate the hardwork of the right-hander. He said, “I remember when we were playing Under-19, since then his dedication and hunger for runs is still fresh or in my opinion even more, because from Under-19 till now, his goal has been to always work hard to get runs, improve his fitness, game, and more.”
Veteran pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar also explained how Kohli is constantly pushing himself and said, ” I think his legacy is not only to make runs but also how he approaches the game. I think many people notice how he is pushing himself and how he wants to change the game.”
Star India batter KL Rahul also expressed his gratitude for his former captain and explained how Kohli has always helped his juniors to improve their game.
“He is the first Indian to do this, he’s obviously been our leader for a long time and he’s guided this young Indian team to where we are today and made us realise that we can always push the boundaries, push the barrier and try and be better in terms of skill”, said KL Rahul.
Rishabh Pant gave a testament of Kohli’s longevity and how players from the team aspire to achieve the same milestones as him “One of the biggest things is in all three formats if any player represents India for 100 matches, and Virat has played 400, 600 matches. So he’s amazing as a cricketer and you hope that even your career becomes like his in life, and play 400, 500 matches for India, win so many matches for India, his legacy of winning so many matches for India over a period of time, so looking at his career us players get inspired, that we can be somewhere near his level at the end,” he said.
Hardik Pandya said “To play that amount of cricket itself is a big achievement, leave the record its fine, people will remember this feat for the longest time since I don’t see in the near future this happening very often, people playing two, three formats and you know playing 100 games each. If someone has the passion why not, but with the cricket we are playing it’ll be difficult so people will remember this for a long time and yeah that’s it, his record speaks for itself.“