Former India captain Virat Kohli made most of a special occasion as he celebrated his 500th international match in style. Kohli marched along to 87 not out off 161 balls on Day 1 of the 2nd Test against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Thursday.
On course of his innings, Kohli became the fifth highest run-getter ever in all forms of international cricket – Tests, ODIs and T20Is – surpassing South African great Jacques Kallis. When he crossed 75, Kohli went past Kallis and now has 25,548 in his 500th match. Former SA all-rounder has 25,534 runs in 519 matches with 62 hundreds and 149 fifties to his name.
50 on 500th _
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.#ViratKohli_ #INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/0EuVH3Ctsb— FanCode (@FanCode) July 20, 2023
Kolhi is 87 not out in his 111th Test after 274 ODIs and 115 T20I matches. He moved 10th on the list of combined appearances in the three formats, which another India great Sachin Tendulkar tops with 664. Kohli brought up his 30th Test 50 with a boundary against left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (1-55). Ravindra Jadeja (36 not out) is with Kohli at the crease in an unbroken 106-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Most runs in international cricket
34,357 – Sachin Tendulkar
28,016 – Kumar Sangakkara
27,483 – Ricky Ponting
25,957 – Mahela Jayawardene
25,548 – Virat Kohli
India dominated the opening session at Queen’s Park Oval, going to lunch at 121-0 in 26 overs, before West Indies hit back with four wickets in the afternoon. India was pinned back at 182-4 at tea after almost 51 overs. Pacer Jason Holder ended India's 139-run opening stand by claiming Yashasvi Jaiswal (57), who was caught by Kirk McKenzie. No. 3 Shubman Gill (10) was then caught behind off Kemar Roach (1-64) and Warrican bowled India captain Rohit Sharma shortly afterward for 80, which included two sixes and nine fours.
Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal for 8 against Shannon Gabriel (1-50) triggered tea with the hosts back in the match. But India reclaimed the advantage after the interval and once again it was Kohli driving the team on, playing a patient innings of 161 balls with eight boundaries.
West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first as the hosts try and level the two-match series. The pitch has no grass and is expected to become slower.
It was some honor restored Thursday for West Indies after the home side suffered an innings loss in three days in Dominica last week. India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a match haul of 12 wickets.
West Indies gave a debut to top-order batter McKenzie for Raymon Reifer and also brought in fast bowler Gabriel for spinner Rahkeem Cornwall. McKenzie, a left-hander like Alick Athanaze who debuted last week, has a first-class average of 39.40 from nine matches.
India is debuting medium-pace bowler Mukesh Kumar after Shardul Thakur suffered a groin issue. Kumar averages 21.55 in first-class cricket. The match is the 100th between the teams. West Indies has won 30 and India 23, but West Indies has won this contest for 21 years.
(with PTI inputs)
