Four years ago on this day, Kohli played his 100th international Test match against Sri Lanka

One of the finest batters to ever grace the game, Virat Kohli has no dearth of records across the three formats of cricket. Four years ago, on this day, i.e., March 1, 2022, Kohli ticked off a major milestone in his Test career – the Delhi-based batter became the 12th Indian player to appear in 100 international Test matches at the PCA Stadium in Mohali against Sri Lanka.

106 minutes on the crease

Virat Kohli’s 100th test match 🥹🔙 pic.twitter.com/MXmjQkC9W2

— RCBIANS OFFICIAL (@RcbianOfficial) May 12, 2025

With a guard of honour from his teammates, Virat Kohli took the field and batted for 106 minutes. After facing 76 balls and scoring 45 runs, a delivery from Embuldeniya bowled him out, prompting him to return to the dugout. Kohli’s innings also comprised five boundaries.

Jadeja’s game 

Ravindra Jadeja slams a spectacular 175* as India declare on 574/8 at the stroke of Tea.#WTC23 | #INDvSL | https://t.co/mo5BSRmFq2 pic.twitter.com/3oCQcS7kwz

— ICC (@ICC) March 5, 2022

The rest of the game became more about Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 175 runs and helped India post a target of 574 runs. Not only with the bat but Jadeja also performed well with the ball, picking four wickets while giving away merely 46 runs that earned him the Player of the Match award.

India won the game by an innings and 222 runs.

A glimpse of Kohli’s Test career

From the archives: Celebrating Kohli on his 100th test pic.twitter.com/yJkBAcLPjF

— Dim Tavid (Perry's version) (@22ReasonsWhy__) November 28, 2023

In his Test career, Kohli played 123 international matches, amassing 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85. He scored 30 centuries in the format and 31 half-centuries with 1,027 boundaries and 30 maximums. Kohli’s highest run in a single innings stood at 245 runs not out. The entire cricket fraternity was in disbelief when Kohli chose to retire from the format with 9,230 runs and not hit the 10,000-run milestone. He was only 770 runs from a major milestone, but walked away.

Moment of realisation

Jan 04, 2025. 4.27 pm Sydney time.

Day 2 of the SCG Test.

Virat Kohli walks off to his test sunset at the SCG, to a few boos and a bit of a generous applause.#kohliretirement #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/jc3mPbRPaT

— Vijay A (@VAAChandran) May 12, 2025

Kohli had been struggling in the format for quite some time, but last year in January 2025, Kohli managed only 17 runs in the first innings of the Sydney test versus Australia. The second innings also were not fruitful for him, as he scored merely six runs. That’s when Kohli walked away from the pitch forever and hung up his boots, knowing a comeback would be tough for him. The Delhi-based batter chose grace over chasing another milestone.

Kohli’s major Test records

As a captain, Kohli was India’s most successful Test captain ever, winning 40 games, including leading India to a Test series victory against the Aussies on Australian soil. He holds the record for most runs scored as a double centurion as an Indian, the first Indian captain to score a century in both innings of a Test, and the only player in Test history to score over 1,000 runs at an average of 75+ in two successive calendar years, among many more.

Fondly called Cheeku, Kohli has bid goodbye to Test and T20I formats but remains active in ODIs with the hope of lifting the ODI World Cup next year. We certainly hope that he ends his career on a positive note!