Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has heaped praise on Virat Kohli following his 30th Test century during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at Optus Stadium in Perth. Kohli's brilliant knock marked his first Test hundred since July 2023, and Gavaskar believes this could be Kohli's final tour of Australia.

Kohli’s century came at a critical juncture, as India needed their experienced batter to perform on Australian soil. Despite a lean spell in 2024, where he didn’t score a single international century, Kohli has shown signs of returning to his best. Gavaskar pointed out that Kohli, much like top tennis players such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, faces enormous expectations every time he steps onto the field.

Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar said: "It’s like I said in commentary that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafa Nadal, they are title winners. If they lose in the semi-finals, people say, ‘Oh, they’re not in form.’ Similarly, with Virat Kohli, because everybody is so used to him scoring hundreds quite regularly, when he doesn’t score 100, even if he’s getting 70-80... people say, ‘Look, he’s not scoring runs."

Gavaskar went on to explain how Indian fans have high expectations from their cricketing icons, especially when it comes to Kohli. He highlighted the fans’ desire for Kohli to score centuries consistently and how they troll him when he gets out in the 70s or 80s:

"Indian fans, they’re greedy fans. They’re not going to be happy with their idol scoring only 60-70s. They want their icons to score hundreds, and that’s why there was talk about Kohli not getting a hundred since July 2023."

As Kohli continues his tour, Gavaskar predicts that more centuries could be on the horizon, making this series even more special for the Indian batting legend.