Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match to be held without crowd support in Mohali against Sri Lanka.
The former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, will miss the sensational crowd support from the stadium as he pads up to feature in his 100th Test match in the PCA Stadium. The CEO of the Punjab Cricket Association, Deepak Sharma, has confirmed that the 1st test match between India and Sri Lanka, which is going to be Virat Kohli’s 100th test assignment, will be held behind closed doors.
Team India is hosting Sri Lanka in the three matches T20I series, followed by the two test matches. The opening test will be held in Mohali, which will be Virat’s 100th Test match, while the second test will be held in Bangaluru.
Deepak Sharma, CEO PCA, said that owing to the COVID concerns the gates of the stadium will be closed for the general public.
“First test between India and Sri Lanka will be played behind closed door with no spectator allowed,” said Punjab Cricket Association CEO Deepak Sharma to ANI.
It is noteworthy that, earlier, Virat’s 100th test match was scheduled in Bangaluru, which apparently is Virat Kohli’s second home ground because of his long-standing association with the Bangalore based IPL franchise, however, the BCCI later made changes to the schedule and fixed India to play the first Test in Mohali, while Bangalore will host 2nd Test.
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Interestingly, while Virat Kohli will feature in his 100th red ball match, Rohit Sharma will begin his test career as the leader. It will be Sharma’s debut game as the commander of the Indian Test side, after being given the full-time responsibility a few weeks ago.
The former Indian skipper abruptly decided to step down from the test captaincy after India’s heartbreaking defeat against South Africa in the three matches test series. South Africa won the test series by 2-1 and restricted team India from rewriting the pages of history on the South African soil.
Kohli, the then skipper, led team India to 48 wins in 60 test matches and became India’s most successful test captain. The cricketer has the fourth-best win percentage in the red-ball format after Steve Waugh, Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting.
Under Virat’s captaincy, team India reached the final of the inaugural season of the ICC World Test Championship. India couldn’t complete the final assignment against the kiwis and had to return without the test mace.
Virat Kohli’s major test achievement came as he led team India to consecutive test series win against Australia in their own backyard.
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