"He took the Indian team to a whole new height in Test cricket"- Virender Sehwag's special message for Virat Kohli ahead of 100th Test

Legendary Indian opening batter Virender Sehwag wished Virat Kohli well in his ahead of the latter's 100th Test match. The opening test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, which commences on March 4, will mark Virat Kohli's 100th appearance for India in the Test format.

Kohli will become the third player from Delhi to play 100 Test matches. His landmark was duly acknowledged by Sehwag ahead of the Mohali Test. The 43-year old reminisced about the Ranji days, where he captained Virat Kohli. He said:

"When I started playing Tests, my only goal was to become the first player to play 100 Test matches coming from Delhi. After me, Ishant Sharma also did that, and now, Virat is also going to do this feat. I captained Virat in his early Ranji matches. I had seen him play. He took the Indian team to a whole new height in Test cricket."

Sehwag added:

"Mein toh kehta hoon. Haazme ki goli, tyohaar mein Holi aur batting mein Kohli, poore Bhaarat ko pasand hai (All I can say is that Hajme Ki Goli, Holi in festivals, and Kohli in batting are loved by the whole of India)."

Sehwag concluded by wishing Kohli well in his future endeavors and said:

"Around his fitness and amazing hunger for runs, he has built a great career for himself and won so many matches for India. Many congratulations Virat on the landmark. May you have many more and all the best."

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India vs Sri Lanka Test series schedule and squads

After whitewashing Sri Lanka 3-0 in the recently concluded T20I series, India will be aiming for a similar result in the 2-match Test series. The itinerary of the series is as follows:

1st Test: March 4 to March 8 | Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali | Start time - 9:30 AM

2nd Test: March 12 to March 16 | Venue: M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | Start time - 12:30 PM

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharath, Ravichandran Ashwin (subject to fitness), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar

Sri Lanka squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva (vc), Kusal Mendis - subject to fitness, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrema, Lasith Embuldeniya