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Cricket Players'Virat scored 100 in 1st innings, 90 odd in 2nd': Rohit Sharma picks his favourite Kohli knock; 'My best memory of him'
Teammates since the last 15 years, Rohit Sharma picked his best Virat Kohli knock on the eve of the former India captain's 100th Test
India's Virat Kohli has 27 centuries and 28 fifties in Tests and while it may be tough to pick one knock that stands above them all, his teammate and captain Rohit Sharma knows exactly the Kohli innings he rates than the rest. Say what you may above their equation – love it or hate it – Kohli and Rohit have been teammates for almost 15 years, during which the two have witnessed plenty of highs and lows together.
So, it was only fitting that Rohit was asked to pick his favourite Kohli Test knock. Many come to mind – the twin centuries in Adelaide 2014, the hundred at Perth in 2018, the two centuries in England the same year and more. But for Rohit, the one knock from Kohli that will always remain special came back in 2013 against South Africa.
"As a team, the favourite memory is the series which we won in Australia in 2018. It was a great series and Virat was the captain. As an individual, my best memory of him is his Test hundred against South Africa in 2013. The pitch we were batting on was very challenging; it had a lot of bounce and a lot of us were playing a Test in South Africa for the first time," Rohit said on the eve of Kohli’s 100th and the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Mohali.
"To then face Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Kallis… it was never going to be easy but the way Virat batted in that match, scoring hundred in the first innings and 90 odd in the second was sensational. It was one of his best knocks. He made a hundred in Perth in 2018 too but I think the one in South Africa beats that."
Kohli had been to South Africa once in 2010/11 as well but only for ODIs and T20Is. 2013 tour was Kohli’s first visit to the country for a Test assignment and boy, did he start off in style. In the first innings of the first Test in Johannesburg, Kohli scored 119 and almost got another in the second. India would travel to South Africa again in 2018, this time under Kohli, where the former skipper scored 286 runs from three Tests. Three years later, the tour of 2021/22 would be Kohli’s last as India’s Test captain.
