New skipper Rohit Sharma credits Kohli for India’s dominating presence on the longer format charts; aims to carry forward the star batsman’s legacy
Virat Kohli during a practice session at Mohali on Wednesday. Pic/PTI
There was no media interaction scheduled with Virat Kohli on the eve of his 100th Test match. It was not clear whether the master batsman was himself reluctant to face journalists or whether the BCCI just did not think it worthwhile. The media was eagerly waiting to hear from Kohli, so in his absence, it was left to skipper Rohit Sharma to pay tributes to his former captain.
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‘A wonderful journey’
Rohit said: “It has been a long journey for him and it has been a wonderful one. He has done exceedingly well in this format, he has changed so many things in the way the team is moving forward. It has been one hell of a ride for him and it will continue to be in the coming years,” said Rohit during a virtual press conference.
“We definitely want to make it special for him, let’s hope we have good five days of cricket. As a team, the series we won in Australia in 2018-19, was a very good series for our side and Virat was captain then.
India skipper Rohit Sharma
As an individual, the best memory of his batting is his Test hundred [119] in South Africa at Johannesburg in 2013. The pitch was challenging and there was a lot of bounce,” he added. Rohit said that he would take Kohli’s legacy forward as his strategies have worked very well for the Indian team.
“I am looking forward to just winning games and doing the right things with the right players in the squad. As a Test team, we at the moment stand in a very good position, credit goes to Virat for getting us going in this format. What he did with the Test team was brilliant to see, I have to just take it forward from where he left [off],” said Rohit.
The benchmark
“We are midway in the World Test Championship table, I do not see we have done anything wrong in this format, we want to improve in every game we play, that is going to be the benchmark we set for ourselves. We look forward to correcting our mistakes, no team is perfect,” he added.
Though there has been a change of guard, with a new Test captain under new coach Rahul Dravid, the planning and tactics will remain almost the same. What will be palpably different is the way Rohit will handle difficult situations and the newcomers in the team.
7,962
No. of runs scored by Virat Kohli in Tests @ 50.39
27
No. of centuries smashed by Kohli in Tests
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