Mohali, Mar 3

All set to become the 12th Indian to achieve the milestone of playing 100 Tests, star batter Virat Kohli says he “never thought” he would come this far and make this landmark appearance.

Having scored only 4 and 15 in his debut Test against the West Indies in 2011, Kohli has come a long way in a decade-long journey in which he has amassed 7962 runs at a stellar average of 50.39 in the longest format.

Kohli’s 100th Test will be against Sri Lanka beginning here on Friday.

“I honestly never thought I would play 100 Test matches. It has been a long journey. We played a lot of cricket over the course of playing those 100 Test matches,” Kohli said in a video posted by the BCCI.

“A lot of International cricket. I am just grateful that I’ve been able to make it to 100.”

Kohli will join an elite list of Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma to play 100 Tests.

“God has been kind. I have worked really hard for my fitness. It’s a big moment for me, for my family, for my coach, who is also very happy and very proud of this Test match as long as I am concerned,” Kohli said.

Kohli’s 100th Test will be open to spectators with the BCCI allowing crowd at 50 per cent stadium capacity.