From U-19 to 8,000 runs and 100th Test: How PCA stadium saw Kohli Test career unfold
While former Indian captain Virat Kohli announced his Test retirement after a 123-Test match career on Monday, the 36-year-old played his 100th Test match at IS Bindra PCA International Stadium at Mohali in March 2022.
While Kohli has scored 30 Test centuries in his Test career, the Indian batsman played four Test matches at the Mohali stadium in his Test career spanning 14 years with his highest score being an unbeaten 67 against Australia in 2013.
Overall, Kohli scored a total of 244 runs in seven innings in four Test matches at Mohali during his career.
With his 100th Test match being played in March 2022 amid Covid-19 restrictions against Sri Lanka, the then PCA secretary R P Singla remembered the special Test for the Mohali stadium. 'When BCCI announced Mohali as the venue for Virat Kohli's 100th Test match, it was a moment of pride for PCA. The stadium had hosted some iconic matches like India-Australia Test in 2008, which saw Sachin Tendulkar crossing Brian Lara's then record of most number of runs in Test cricket, and to host Virat Kohli's 100th Test was special for all of us. Amid Covid-19 restrictions, we made all the arrangements and also got special memorabilia made for Virat Kohli for the historic feat,' said Singla.
With a total of 9,230 runs in 210 Test innings, Kohli stands fourth in the all-time list of Indian batsmen with most runs only behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Rahul Dravid (13,265 runs) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122).
During his knock of 45 runs against Sri Lanka in his 100th Test, Kohli also crossed the 8,000-run mark in Test matches during his knock of 45 runs making him 16th fastest in the world to score 8,000 runs in Test cricket.
Kohli's wife Anushka Sharma and brother Vikas Kohli too were in attendance to see him achieve the historic feat of playing in his 100th Test.
'Fans were allowed to watch the historic Test match only three days prior to the Test match. So, we had to make special counters for tickets. There was a lot of craze to watch Virat Kohli play his 100th Test match here and Virat Kohli crossing the 8,000 run mark in Test cricket made the Test more special,' recalled Singla.
BCCI's former chief curator Daljit Singh too remembered the times Kohli played in Test matches at Mohali stadium. 'I had first seen him when he had come as part of the U-19 side for a tournament at Mohali. He has grown to be one of the stalwarts of Indian cricket. First there was Sunil Gavaskar, then Sachin Tendulkar and then came Virat Kohli. His fitness was supreme all these years and all the youngsters should take a leaf out of Virat's fitness and dedication to excel in future,' said Singh.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships.
An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
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