Childhood coach Rajkumar salutes Kohli’s contribution, hopes youngsters take inspiration from his hard work

New Delhi, May 12 Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma saluted his former protege for his legendary Test career, which spanned across 14 years and saw him become India’s most successful captain in the longest format of the game.

The 36-year-old’s red-ball career transformed India’s approach to Test cricket. In 123 matches, he scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

Rajkumar revealed that even though Kohli was always full of talent, youngsters need to take inspiration from the amount of hard work the batter did to become one of the greatest to ever do it. He also acknowledged it will take time for whoever replaces him to fill the big gap left by his absence.

“A legendary career has ended today, and it was Virat’s decision, so I support and appreciate it 100% and salute his contribution to the country. The selectors will have to figure out who will be replacing him. A new player always takes a while to adjust, just like it is when a big player retires.

‘It is a proud moment for me as a coach because his contribution to Indian cricket has been immense. The way he led the team, he batted, scored runs, and won so many matches for the country. I salute his contribution to the nation.

“He was a very talented cricketer, but he was also a very hardworking player. It is an inspiration and a motivation. Youngsters need to be inspired by how hard he worked despite being a talented player,” Rajkumar told IANS.

From his debut in 2011 to becoming one of India's most successful captains, Kohli's 30 Test centuries make him the fourth-most successful Indian batter, behind Sachin Tendulkar (51 hundreds), Rahul Dravid (36), and Sunil Gavaskar (34). Kohli also made seven Test double hundreds, the most ever by an Indian. He also has the most Test hundreds by an Indian captain, with Gavaskar (11 centuries) way behind his 20 tons.

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