Crown jewels of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, were showered with a special memento by some of the Sri Lankan net bowlers ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka. It was a wonderful gesture by the bowlers, towards a cricketer basking in light. The Indian cricket team, spearheaded by stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, landed in Colombo on Monday to get ready for the ODI series, which is slated to begin on August 2.
This would be the much-anticipated comeback in the 50-over format of the modern-day greats since they last appeared in an ODI in November 2023. Their stakes would surely be followed more keenly after India’s triumph in the recent T20 World Cup 2024. The incident that made the headline was when Kohli was batting in the nets.
Very sweetly, the Sri Lankan net bowlers, who normally bowl to all visiting teams during practice sessions, handed Kohli a memento as it was his last practice session on the island. This only attested to the respect that Kohli elicits from cricketing nations and depicted the cordial relations between Indian and Sri Lankan cricket.
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One has to take a look at Kohli’s record in ODIs against the islanders. Playing in 53 matches against the Lankans, he consumed 2,594 runs at an average of 63.26, and Kohli has an amazing feat of scoring 10 hundreds and 12 fifties.
Sri Lankan net bowlers gifted Virat Kohli a special memento. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/1M9X0UU3mE
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 31, 2024
The other team members in action included KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav. It was Suryakumar Yadav leading from the front with the Indian contingent, who had recently registered a 3-0 in the Twnety20 International games in the tour led by Charith Asalanka.
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The gesture from the Sri Lankan net bowlers added more to the bonhomie between the two sides, but of course, the regard for Kohli was immense. The action now shifts to the ODI series, and the scenes will now wait with bated breath to see if Kohli and Co. can make this run count and get the supporters another performance to remember.
India’s Squad for the three-match ODI series:
Rohit Sharma (C), ášhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
