Trinidad: Virat Kohli, the top batsman for Team India, will become just the 10th player to appear in 500 international games on Thursday, marking a significant accomplishment. In the second and final Test of the series against the West Indies, Kohli will accomplish the record and become the fourth player to play 500 games for India, behind Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and current head coach Rahul Dravid.
The first player in the history of the game to boast of an average of 50+ in 500 or more games will probably be Kohli, who made his debut in 2008.
The 34-year-old former Indian captain has had a difficult year in international cricket; in August of last year, Kohli even took a month off. He did, however, make a strong comeback in the Asia Cup a month later, and he hasn't looked back since.
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Since scoring his first century in a T20I during the continental competition, Kohli has added three more hundreds to his total, with the most recent coming in a Test match against Australia in March of this year.
Fans will be hopeful that Kohli would celebrate his 500th international appearance with a three-figure score because they are used to seeing him score big hundreds at a more consistent rate. Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India, said he preferred to ignore the statistics and concentrate on Kohli's effort and total contribution.
“I didn’t know that this is his 500th game. I am not a great one for numbers. It’s great to hear that. It’s fantastic; he’s a real inspiration to so many players within this team without a doubt and to so many boys and girls back home in India," Dravid said during his interaction with reporters ahead of the second Test in Port of Spain.
"His numbers and his stats speak for themselves - it’s all there in the book. For me, what’s been great to see first-hand has been the effort and the work that he puts in behind the scenes when no one is watching. That is reflected in the fact that he has been able to play 500 games," he added.
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Dravid mentioned that Kohli's commitment to fitness and attitude serve as an example for his colleagues. It's not surprising that some of the squad's greatest successful stretches in the longest version of the game occurred under Kohli because the former India captain brought a sort of fitness revolution to the Indian team.
The team had a stellar home record, won an away series in Australia, and left England with a 2-1 lead in 2021 before the fifth game was rescheduled. The match was eventually played with Jasprit Bumrah serving as captain after Kohli resigned from the position the next year.
“That’s not come easy, that’s come because of a lot of hard work behind the scenes, a lot of sacrifices that he has made throughout his career and he’s willing to continue to make. That’s something that is great for a coach because you can see a lot of young players will look to that and be inspired by that,” Dravid continued.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just by the way you conduct yourself, the way you go about practices, your fitness, [that] becomes an inspiration for a lot of other young players who are coming through the system. Hopefully, they follow that and they are inspired by Virat to play so many games. Longevity comes with a lot of hard work, discipline, adaptability. He’s shown all of that, so long may it continue."
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