Five hundredth Test is the biggest occasion for Indian cricket. It is good that it is happening in India. It is a great occasion and a very big milestone. I am sure the Indian team will do well, especially playing against New Zealand, a team which is playing good cricket, in India. I have no doubt that the Indian team under Virat Kohli will come out in flying colours.
The 500th Test also holds special significance for me personally as it was in Kanpur where I started my Test career in 1969. To see India's 500th Test being played there will be unforgettable. Naturally, I go back to the first Test when I played there. It is a great milestone.
While this is an important milestone in the annals of Indian cricket, it is very difficult to choose which era was the best in Indian Test history. One would always be tempted to choose the era in which one played to be the best part of history. That will always be the case. When you play in an era, that era is the best part. Everyone says that. I have heard it before I started my career. I am hearing the same after I finished. It goes on, it is obvious. People will definitely feel that way as they are in the middle of the action. That experience is totally different.
In my case, it will always be the era in which I played, the 1970s and 1980s. Cricket was different. We thoroughly enjoyed that phase.
After Sachin (Tendulkar) finished his career, he will always say that his era was the best – from where he started in the late 1980s to where he finished nearly 25 years later. That is the way it goes and that is the way it has to be. That is what Indian cricket is all about.
If you look into the history of Indian cricket, right from Col. CK Nayudu, India's first Test captain, till Virat Kohli, India's latest captain, Col. Nayudu will always be talked about. It is interesting.
As India start their 2016-17 season with the milestone Test, I am looking forward to the team getting off to a good start. The aim should be to go for the win. I have got a lot of confidence in this team. It is not just about reaching the No. 1 status but staying there is more important. For that, you have to play a couple of series abroad again, and hopefully everything comes good.
We are a very good, balanced side and we can do very well under Kohli, who is young and dynamic. As captain, he wants to win. He appears very hungry for success. That is a very good sign for any captain, especially a youngster like Kohli. That augurs well for Indian cricket.
(GR Viswanath played for India in 91 Tests between 1969 and 1983, captaining in two of them. Regarded as one of the most stylish batsmen ever, he made late cut his very own. The wristy right-handed No. 4 scored 6,080 runs at 41.93 and struck 14 hundreds and 35 fifties. He spoke with G Krishnan)
