"Lucky to watch Virat Kohli.."- Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma who is currently on duty with the national team in the ongoing 1st of a 5-match Test series against England, heaped praise on his former captain and star batter Virat Kohli for his dedication and hunger to get better, something the upcoming generation of cricketers should learn from.

Virat Kohli is currently spending time with his family after pulling himself out of the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam due to personal reasons. In his absence, Rahul Dravid-led Indian management named 30-year-old batter Rajat Patidar as his replacement and shrugged off all the chances for Sarfaraz Khan to finally receive his first national team call-up.

Rohit Sharma said, "Virat Kohli's passion and dedication is amazing. He's always hungry to do well for the team. Youngsters should look up to him for passion and dedication, I'm lucky to watch him closely". (JioCinema). pic.twitter.com/ImD2dEEjZM

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 28, 2024

It was being said that Patidar would be integrated into the playing XI right away, most likely at number 4 but it was KL Rahul who was entrusted with that role. And it proved to be the correct decision from the management as Rahul played out a brilliant knock of 86 off 123 balls.

It was also clear that India were not missing the services of Virat Kohli who is expected to be a part of the team from the 3rd Test onwards in Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamshala. The 35-year-old when he returns to play his favorite format, will be looking to eclipse not one but two records against the Three Lions.

Virat Kohli Eyeing These Records Upon His Return From 3rd Test Onwards

He will become just the 3rd Indian batter to complete 2000 Test runs against England and he needs just 9 runs to do so. Kohli currently has 1991 runs in 28 matches, including 5 centuries and 9 half-centuries. Above him in the list are some legendary names like Alastair Cook (2431 runs), Sunil Gavaskar (2483 runs), Joe Root (2526 runs) and Sachin Tendulkar (2535 runs).

Among the top 5 highest scorers in India Vs England Test matches, Virat Kohli and Joe Root are the only 2 active players with the former currently standing as India’s highest active run scorer against the Britishers in red-ball cricket. Kohli will also be aiming to become the latest to complete 9000 Test runs and needs to rack up 152 runs for the achievement.

Virat Kohli experienced a splendid 2023 calendar year, which saw him overtake Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI centuries and also finished as the highest run-getter in the ODI World Cup at home. India skipper Rohit Sharma believes that the dedication and hunger for more type of attitude is the reasons why Kohli can get closer to these records.

Rohit claimed that he feels lucky to be witnessing the greatness of Virat Kohli and hailed the latter for his unmatched passion while speaking to Jio Cinema.

“Virat Kohli’s passion and dedication is amazing. He’s always hungry to do well for the team. Youngsters should look up to him for passion and dedication, I’m lucky to watch him closely.” – Rohit said. 

Meanwhile, if we talk about the 1st Test in Hyderabad then England are currently going strong and proceeding to set up a 250+ target in the 3rd innings. Ollie Pope is inching closer towards his 200 as well and if Indian bowlers do not finish up England’s remaining batting order then it will be a difficult one for India to win.