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Padma Shri Awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik has dedicated sand art to Team India legend Virat Kohli following the latter’s Test retirement. Kohli, on May 12, concluded his illustrious Test career after playing for India in the format for 14 years. During his superb stint, he scored 9230 runs in 201 innings of 123 Tests. Following his retirement announcement, his fans expressed their sorrow on social media but at the same time, they are also celebrating his exceptional career in red-ball cricket and also wishing him the best for his future. Pattnaik, who earlier dedicated sand art to Team India on the T20 World Cup 2024 win, presented another brilliance of his with the picture of Kohli made using sand.
Pattnaik, along with his students, used the art to thank Kohli for his services to India’s Test team and world cricket. Speaking to ANI, he remarked, “Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket… His contribution to the nation, world, and cricket is unimaginable. We have created a sand art with a replica of 14 bats to express gratitude to him.” The artist used 4.5 tonnes of sand to create the masterpiece.
Virat Kohli’s contribution to India in Test cricket
In his 14-year test career, Virat Kohli made sensational contributions to Team India. Under his captaincy, India succeeded in beating Australia in their backyard for the first time in 2018 while in England, he helped the side to level the series against the home team for the first time after 14 years in 2021-22.
As a skipper, he also ensured that no team could win a Test series against his team on Indian soil from 2015 to 2021. Talking about his batting records, the veteran is the fourth-most successful Test batter for India, following Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
