Gautam Gambhir posts a special message for Virat Kohli on completing 16 years in international cricket

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has heaped praises on legendary batter Virat Kohli for completing 16 years in international cricket. Gambhir is one of the players who was an established name in the Indian team when Kohli made his debut

The former India opener knows a lot about Kohli having observed him closely right from the early days. It was Gautam Gambhir who was at the other end when Kohli scored his first international hundred, against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Both Gambhir and Kohli have stitched together a mammoth partnership in that game to take India home.

Although Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli have been involved in some ugly clashes over the years, Gambhir is someone who always admires Kohli for his attitude towards the game.

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Gautam Gambhir hails Virat Kohli on completing 16 years in international cricket

Virat Kohli played his first international match on August 18, 2008, against Sri Lanka at Dambulla. In a period of 16 years, he has established himself as one of the greats of the game in all the formats.

While speaking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir remembers the time when Virat Kohli was in his early days. Gambhir reckons that Kohli always had so much talent that he isn't surprised with his performance at all.

"When he made his debut in Sri Lanka and played his first ODI, I remember he had got out early. But I knew that he would serve the country for a long time the way he was batting in the nets. He had so much talent that it was just a matter of time that he will perform and I wasn't surprised with his performance," Gambhir said in a video posted by Star Sports on X (formerly Twitter).

𝟏𝟔 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐨𝐡𝐥𝐢! ♥️

Team India coach, @GautamGambhir takes us down memory lane, reflecting on @imVkohli’s early days, crediting his match-winning ability and relentless hunger as the key to his success! 💪🏻#KingKohli #16YearsOfVirat #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/a79P2UdvgH

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) August 18, 2024

The India head coach further mentioned that Kohli knew how to win right from the moment he came into the team. His ability to win matches was the biggest positive of his career.

"He was a brilliant player and had a great attitude and temperament. He knew how to fight and win matches for his country when he came into the team. It was the biggest positive of his entire cricketing career the way he won matches for his team," Gambhir added.

Virat Kohli has been phenomenal in his international career so far and has broken a no. of records. He has close to 14000 runs in ODI cricket and close to 9000 runs in Tests. In ODIs, he has already surpassed the great Sachin Tendulkar in terms of number of hundreds. Kohli has scored 50 hundreds and 72 fifties to his name in the 50-over format.

In T20Is, he has scored 4188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.69. He has scored some of his best knocks in this format. The 35-year-old retired from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 for India and playing a match-winning knock in the final.