Star India batter Virat Kohli will be having some milestones to unlock as he prepares for the first Test against Bangladesh at Chennai, with an aim to overtake his peers' Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson's recent success in long format.
The two-match series between India and Bangladesh will kick off on September 19 in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Meanwhile, the second long-format game will begin on September 27 in Kanpur. In his first Test assignment, head coach Gautam Gambhir will be keen on securing a series win.
Missing the home series against England earlier this year due to the birth of his second child, Virat has had some success in his short, but a consistent ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 run, scoring 369 runs in four matches and six innings at an average of 61.50, with a century and two fifties. His best score is 121.
Kohli will be aiming to surpass the 9,000 run mark in Test cricket, as he is just 152 runs away from the milestone. It will make him the fourth Indian to reach the tally after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. In 113 Tests, he has scored 8,848 runs in 191 innings at an average of 49.15, with 29 centuries and 30 fifties. His best score is 254. Sachin Tendulkar is India's highest run-getter in Tests with 15,921 runs in 200 matches.
The veteran batter is also the fourth-highest run-getter in international cricket history, with 26,942 runs in 533 matches and 591 innings at an average of 53.35, with 80 centuries and 140 fifties to his name. Just 58 more runs will get him to 27,000 international runs.
However, this series will also be crucial for Virat to overcome a rather poor run of form this year. In 14 matches this year, Virat has scored just 296 runs at a shockingly sub-par average of 19.73, with just one half-century in 15 innings. His best score this year has been 76.
For Rohit Sharma's side, this series against Bangladesh will be followed by New Zealand's tour of India for three Tests starting from October 16, and then the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia from November 22.
India's squad for the 1st Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
(With inputs from ANI)
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