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Former cricketer Atul Wassan believes even if the famed Virat Kohli fails to land on the 100 international century, his contribution would be enough, and it would become more valuable if he builds the next generation.
In the fierce rivalry between India and Australia, the visitors have raised the bar with a set of remarkable performances across all departments. After Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul made Australian bowlers toil, Kohli came in to make up the most of what was on offer and ended his Test century drought of 16 innings. He continued to wear out the Australian bowling unit and raised his bat to celebrate his 81st international hundred. At the age of 36, the debate still wages on about the possibility of Kohli matching the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international tons record. Wasan weighed on the debate and feels hope still remains for Kohli to replicate the feat. However, he thinks Kohli's runs in the team's winning cause and his contribution to building a new generation would be much bigger. "Virat is one of the biggest players. He may be able to reach the record. Even if he doesn't reach the record, he still has done a lot. Even if he adds 50 or 60 and India wins, and he contributes in making a new generation, that will be a bigger contribution," Wassan told ANI. Kohli's ton has been one of the highlights of the three days of action in the series opener. After India folded on 150, the Jasprit Bumrah-led pace attack was relentless in their reply. Their scorching spells forced Australia to succumb to a mere total of 104 and take a valuable 46-run lead. In India's second turn, KL Rahul (77) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) made the Perth strip look like a flat track, even with the bounce on offer. Rahul, with his elegance, and Jaiswal, with his flamboyance, stitched up a 201-run opening stand to knock Australia out of the mix. India went on to declare on 487/6, bringing an end to Australia's misery, which lasted for almost five sessions. Wassan applauded the Indian team's "resilience and depth" in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener and labelled A-lister Bumrah as a "genius." "Look at the resilience and depth of this team. This is all happening because we have a genius Jasprit Bumrah," he said. "Even Virat Kohli scored a century after some time. I want to say something, especially about Yashasvi Jaiswal, he is incredible. I think this could be Australia's biggest defeat," he added. In the final moments of Day 3, Australia were reduced to 12/3 courtesy of Bumrah and Siraj's consistency. Australia need 522 runs with seven wickets in hand in the next two days of play. (ANI)
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