India batting sensation Virat Kohli is all set to play his 100th Test match at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.
The former skipper, set to become the 12th Indian cricketer to join the elite club when he takes the field against Sri Lanka in the first Test, will be eager to put up a sterling performance in front of a 50 per cent-packed crowd in Mohali.
There is also no better occasion than this for Kohli to bring up his long-awaited 71st international century, the last having come in November 2019 during the country's first pink-ball Test.
Sportstar takes a look at the other Indian cricketing legends who have cleared the milestone of having three-digit caps in the longest format:
1. Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar has represented his country in 200 Tests , and is the only cricketer in world cricket to have done the same. The Master Blaster also holds the record of having scored the most runs (15,921) in a Test career spanning from 1989 to 2013. His highest score of 248* came against Bangladesh in 2004.
2. Rahul Dravid
The current Indian head coach has featured in 163 Tests . Dravid became the first player to score a century in all the 10 Test-playing countries after registering a ton against Bangladesh in 2004. He also holds the record of never getting dismissed for a golden duck in the 286 Test innings he has played. Not only has Dravid faced the highest number of balls (31,258) in Test cricket, but he has also spent 44,152 minutes at the crease, the most by any player in the format.
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3. VVS Laxman
Currently the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, Laxman was an elegant middle-order batter for India, who played in 134 Tests . He shot to stardom during the second Test of the 2001 series against Australia at the Eden Gardens when alongside Dravid, he forged a record 376-run stand to deny the visitor an innings victory. Laxman's 281 then broke Sunil Gavaskar's long-standing Indian record Test score of 236*.
4. Anil Kumble
The former captain is India's most successful bowler in the longest format. Having played 132 games , Kumble has a mind-boggling 619 wickets. His best figures came during the second Test against Pakistan in February 1999 in Delhi, when he scalped all 10 wickets for 74. Kumble has bowled 40,850 balls in his entire Test career, which is second only to Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan's 44,039 balls.
On August 10, 2007, Kumble also scored his only Test century against England at The Oval in the third Test. His innings helped the visitor draw the game and win the three-match series 1-0.
5. Kapil Dev
One of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game, Kapil is still the only cricketer with more than 400 (434) wickets and more than 5000 (5,248) Test runs. The youngest captain to lay hands on the World Cup, Kapil has played 131 matches in the longest format. When he retired, he held the record of picking the most Test wickets, one broken six years later by West Indies' Courtney Walsh in 2000.
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6. Sunil Gavaskar
In a Test career spanning 16 years, Gavaskar played 125 matches and scored 34 centuries for India.
He became the first batter to reach 10,000 runs in the format. He is also one of the only three Indian batters to have achieved the feat.
7. Dilip Vengsarkar
Vengsarkar has played 116 Tests for India. He has scored 17 hundreds as well, one of the most memorable ones being against the West Indies in the 1978/79 season. Although the match ended in a draw, Gavaskar and Vengsarkar stitched together a 300-run stand in the third Test, each of them scoring a hundred.
Vengsarkar was also known to be very effective against the feared Windies pace trio of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts.
8. Sourav Ganguly
The current BCCI president is also one of the best captains in Indian cricket history. Having played 113 games , Ganguly scored 7,212 runs at an average of 42.17. He was also occasionally handy with the ball, having picked 32 wickets with his medium-pace.
Ganguly's 131 at Lord's against England still remains the highest by any batter on his debut at the venue.
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9. Ishant Sharma
The latest and the only other active cricketer on the list besides Kohli, Ishant became the second Indian seamer to reach 100 Tests when he took the field against England in the third Test in Ahmedabad in February 2021.
Tendulkar, who was a part of the side when Ishant made his debut against Bangladesh in 2007, spoke of the paceman's longevity and perseverance. He said, "His transition has been exceptional. How many fast bowlers play 100 Test matches for the country? Very few. And that’s a reflection of discipline, commitment and hard work. I am sure people understand that. One doesn’t end up playing 100 Test matches just like that. You require all these factors to combine together, and to deliver over a long period takes a lot of effort. He has put in that much hard work and he deserves all the accolades."
Ishant has 311 wickets from 105 Tests . His 7/74 against England at Lord's in July 2014 is still seen as one of the country's best away bowling performances.
10. Harbhajan Singh
March 11, 2001 saw Harbhajan become the first Indian bowler to take a hattrick in Test cricket during the second fixture of a three-match series against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Not just that, he went on to pick 32 wickets in the series, while none of his teammates could manage more than three.
India's most successful off-spinner, Harbhajan has 417 wickets in 103 matches .
11. Virender Sehwag
Sehwag holds the record of posting the top two highest individual scores in Test cricket in an innings by an Indian - 319 vs South Africa in Chennai, 2008 and 309 vs Pakistan in Multan, 2004.
The explosive opening batter has played 103 Tests for India and scored 8,503 runs. Sehwag, who bowled part-time right-arm off-spin, also has a lone fifer, when he got the better of Australia's Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, and Cameron White at his home ground in Delhi in 2008.
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