India: Herschelle Gibbs wishes Virat Kohli good luck ahead of 100th Test match

World Test Championship
Virat Kohli

Former Proteas batsman Herschelle Gibbs has wished Indian batsman Virat Kohli good luck, as the former Indian captain plays his 100th Test this week.

Kohli will become the 12th Indian to reach the milestone, as India and Sri Lanka meet for their series opener in Mohali. The fixture is part of the World Test Championship.

Virat Kohli among fine company

The other 11 are retirees Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sourav Ganguly, Ishant Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar. Kohli is the only one of the seven still playing Test cricket.

Batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is another Indian batsman nearing 100 Test matches. He has played 95 sine debuting in 2010, but was not named in the squad for this first Test against Sri Lanka.

“Keep entertaining, champion. Good luck,” said Gibbs in response to a tweet from Kohli, which read: “Very grateful for the journey so far. A big day and a special Test match. Can’t wait to get this started.”

The right-handed Kohli averages 50.39 after 99 Tests for India. Approximately 11 percent of his 7962 Test runs have come against Sri Lanka. He averages 77.23 against the Sri Lankans in the longest format of the international game.

Virat Kohli for RCB in the IPL

Kohli and Gibbs were team-mates in the Indian Premier League. The former still plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, while the latter represented the Mumbai Indians and now-defunct Deccan Chargers at the time.

Kohli will return for Bangalore in the IPL later this month. He won’t be captain, though, and will likely be succeeded by former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis. The South African has joined the Royal Challengers from the Chennai Super Kings.

Kohli is the top run-scorer in the IPL overall. He has amassed 6283 in 199 innings at an average of 37.39 and strike rate of 129.94. That tally includes five centuries. Only West Indian recruit Chris Gayle, who used to play for RCB before moving to the Punjab Kings, has struck more – six.

Bangalore have never won the IPL. They remain in pursuit of a maiden title. Mumbai are the most successful team in the history of the IPL with five titles. Chennai have four. The Kolkata Knight Riders have two.

The IPL started in 2008. The Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural title. The tournament has grown to 10 teams this year. The Lucknow Super Giants and Ahmedabad Titans have been added.

Herschelle Gibbs IPL Virat Kohli

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