Come March 4, former India captain Virat Kohli will be playing his 100th Test for the country when the Rohit Sharma-led home team will take on Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-game series at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. However, crowd will not be allowed at the venue to witness Kohli's record appearance for India.
"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.
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India will play the first Test on March 4 and the second, a Day-Night Test, will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 12.
Kohli will become the 11th Indian cricketer to make 100 appearances in Tests, joining the elusive list topped by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (200) and current India head coach Rahul Dravid (163) among few others.
Kohli was initially supposed to play his 100th Test in Cape Town last month during India's tour of South Africa, but he missed the second Test match of the series, in Johannesburg. And while he did appear in the Cape Town Test, his tally remained at 99.
The 100th Test was hence supposed to be in Bengaluru, the city for which he plays in the Indian Premier League, and captained the franchise as well. However, a change in schedule resulted in Mohali being the venue for Kohli's milestone appearance for India.
{{/usCountry}}The 100th Test was hence supposed to be in Bengaluru, the city for which he plays in the Indian Premier League, and captained the franchise as well. However, a change in schedule resulted in Mohali being the venue for Kohli's milestone appearance for India.
{{/usCountry}}The Sri Lanka series will also be the first Test contest since 2014 where Kohli will not lead the Indian side and will hence mark the very first assignment of the team's newly-announced all-format skipper Rohit Sharma. Kohli had stepped down from the role back in January after India's 1-2 series loss in South Africa.