Sunil Gavaskar has a unique wish that Virat Kohli can satisfy when India visits Australia not long from now for the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
With the residue settled over the strike-rate contention from IPL 2024, Sunil Gavaskar has set new assumptions for Virat Kohli as India gears up for the five-test series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in the not-so-distant future. Gavaskar, a previous India captain, was beforehand disparaging of Kohli’s reaction to inquiries concerning his strike rate.
“Why answer on the off chance that you couldn’t care less about external clamor?” Regardless of the confronting reaction from Kohli’s fanbase, Gavaskar stayed firm in his position.
A Historic Challenge
Now, with six months to go before the crucial series, Gavaskar has challenged Virat Kohli to achieve something only a few visiting batsmen have accomplished—scoring a century at all five Test venues in Australia. Virat Kohli has already notched centuries in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne.
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The only venue missing from his list is the Gabba, where India made history during their last Test match there. Unfortunately, Virat Kohli wasn’t part of that iconic victory, and Gavaskar’s wish is for Kohli to complete the set on his fifth tour down under.
Gavaskar’s Expectations
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“On an individual level, [my wish] maybe for Virat Kohli is that he becomes the third overseas player who’s scored a Test century in all the Australian venues. I think he doesn’t have one at the Gabba, so if he gets a century at The Gabba, that means he joins me and Alastair Cook,” Gavaskar said on Wednesday, during the launch of the Australia-India Summer of Cricket, organized by the Australian Consulate in partnership with Cricket Australia.
Gavaskar was the first overseas batter to score centuries at all five Australian Test venues. His highest Test score of 172 came in Sydney in 1986, followed by a knock of 166 at Adelaide in the same series. Four years earlier, in 1981, Gavaskar scored 118 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, while his other two centuries—127 in Perth and 113 in Brisbane—were during the 1977 tour.
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Meanwhile, Alastair Cook, England’s second-most successful Test captain behind Joe Root, scored 148 at Adelaide in 2010, an unbeaten 244 at the MCG in 2017, 116 at Perth in 2006, 235 not out at the Gabba in 2010, and 189 at the SCG in 2011, most of them being day hundreds.
Virat Kohli’s Impressive Record
As Gavaskar pointed out, Virat Kohli isn’t far behind. Virat Kohli is the most dominant of the three when it comes to scoring centuries. He has three in Adelaide, two in Perth, and one each in Sydney and Melbourne. With this Border-Gavaskar Trophy possibly being Kohli’s last tour Down Under, he has a chance to fulfill Gavaskar’s wish.
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