As India and Sri Lanka are all set to lock horns for the first test match at Mohali. It will also be the 100th Test match for Virat Kohli. Let’s look at some relevant numbers for this match.
Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match:
It will be a landmark test match for Virat Kohli as he will become the 12th player to play 100 test matches for India, overall 71st player in the world. He made his Test debut against West Indies in June 2011.
Among Indians- Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (164), VVS Laxman (134), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengasarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113), Ishant Sharma (105), Virender Sehwag (104), and Harbhajan Singh (103) are the previous members in this list.
There were 9 batters who scored a hundred in his 100th Test match, though none of them were from India. Ricky Ponting hit twin hundreds in his 100th test match.
8000-club:
Virat Kohli is also just 38 runs away to complete his 8000 runs in his Test career. He will become the 6th Indian to reach the milestone. Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13288), Sunil Gavaskar (10122), VVS Laxman (8781), Virender Sehwag (8503) are the others. Overall he will be the 32nd batter to reach the figure.
Head-to-head:
India and Sri Lanka played 44 Tests and India comfortably lead the tally with a 20-7 margin while 17 Tests ended in a draw. However, it’s totally one-way traffic when the matches were played in India.
In 20 clashes between the two teams in India, the hosts won 11 games while 9 games ended in a draw. The visitors are still chasing their first Test win on Indian soil.
There is only one series between them in India (of more than one match) that ended in a draw, it was in 1997 when all three test matches ended in a draw.
Ravichandran Ashwin Just 5 wickets away:
Ravichandran Ashwin is just 5 wickets away to become India’s second-leading wicket-taker in the longest format. In the process, he can cross the tally of Sir Richard Hadlee (431), Rangana Herath (433).
Dale Steyn (439) is also well within reach for the off-spinner.
World Test Championship Equation:
The path for India to qualify for the final of WTC final has become tricky after their loss against South Africa. Currently, they are at no.5 with 4 wins and 3 losses. Other than this series, they are scheduled to host Australia for a 4-match series. And they will also travel to Bangladesh for 2-match Test series.
On the other side, Sri Lanka played just one series against West Indies in this cycle in which they clean swept the visitors.
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