Watch: AB de Villers’ special message for Virat Kohli ahead of Indian cricketer’s 100th T20I – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Virat Kohli is set to play his 100th T20I on Sunday as India get ready to take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 campaign opener at the Dubai International Cricket stadium. Ahead of the momentous occasion, Kohli’s former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate and close friend, AB de Villiers shared a special message for the Indian cricketer.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my very good friend Virat Kohli on becoming the first Indian cricket player to play a 100 matches across all three formats. What an amazing achievement Virat! We are all very proud of you and all the very best in your 100th T20 International game. Will be watching you,” the South African legend said in a video uploaded by Star Sports’ official Twitter handle.

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Kohli will become the second Indian men’s cricketer after Rohit Sharma to play 100 T20I matches if he gets picked in the side for the Pakistan match. Rohit has played 132 matches so far. Kohli is also set to become the first Indian to play 100 matches across all three formats. He has played 102 Tests and 262 ODIs.

Besides the potential record, all eyes will also be fixed on how Kohli does with the bat on his return to the international circuit. Kohli, who last scored a century in 2019, was rested from tours of the West Indies and Zimbabwe after his struggle with form. He last played for India in England in June where his highest score was 20 in five matches across formats. The star batter also had a quiet IPL 2022, scoring just 341 runs from 16 matches at an average of 22.73.

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Kohli, in a recent interview, opened up on how the loss of form has impacted him and how he didn’t touch the bat in his time away from the game.

“For the first time in 10 years, I didn’t touch my bat for a month. I came to realisation that I was trying to fake my intensity a bit recently,” Kohli said. “I was convincing myself that no, you had the intensity. But your body was telling you to stop. The mind was telling me to take a break and step back.”

Now, after a well-deserved break, Kohli will look to get back his scoring touch in the high-profile game against Pakistan which is destined to be a historic one for him in any case.

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