Forever grateful: Virat Kohli celebrates 12 years of playing Test cricket

Virat Kohli has said that he is forever grateful for having represented India in Test cricket as he celebrates 12 years since making his debut in red-ball cricket for the national team.

Kohli made his Test debut on June 20, 2011, against the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. While the star batter could only score four and 15 runs in his first game in red-ball cricket he has since gone from strength to strength and has made the No.4 spot his own in the Indian Test team.

His first hundred in Tests came in 2012 when he scored 116 against Australia in Adelaide.

Kohli has played 109 Test matches and has scored 8479 runs at an average of 48.72. He has scored 28 hundreds and 28 fifties during his stellar career. Kohli’s first assignment as captain of the Indian team was also in the Test arena, when he took over from MS Dhoni in 2014.

His consistent performances with the bat allowed Kohli to become the No.1 ranked ICC Test batter in 2018 and he held onto the spot for an extended period of time. Under the 34-year-old’s captaincy, India had many big wins, including their first-ever series win in Australia during the 2018-19 tour.

Kohli has now taken the opportunity to celebrate the occasion with the fans through social media. On Tuesday, the star batter put up a post on Instagram and said he was forever grateful for the opportunity to have played for India in Tests.

Kohli was last in action during the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval and is expected to be a part of the squad for the upcoming tour of West Indies.