Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made history by becoming the first Indian duo to appear in 400 international games together. They accomplished the milestone when they took the field for India in the series’ third and decisive ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday.
After surpassing the illustrious combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who played 391 international matches together, the duo already holds the record for the most international matches played together for India.
With 550 outings together, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka hold the record, followed by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayawardene with 426. After their 400th game together, Rohit and Kohli will rank seventh on the elite list.
The two mainstays of Indian cricket started playing at roughly the same time, Kohli in 2008 and Rohit in 2007. They have been the cornerstone of India’s batting for the past 18 years, helping the nation win two Champions Trophies, one ODI World Cup, and three T20 World Cups. ODIs are currently their only active format; both have retired from T20Is and Tests. With 14,867 and 11,757 runs, respectively, Kohli and Rohit are India’s second and third-highest run scorers in ODIs.
The three-match series is finely poised at 1-1 heading into the decider. India took the opening ODI with a comfortable chase of 259, powered by Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 80 and Axar Patel’s impressive all-round performance. England responded in the second match, securing a four-wicket victory to draw level and set up a winner-takes-all finale.
Meanwhile, India and England cricketers donned black armbands in remembrance of the great West Indies cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers, who passed away at the age of 89.
Sobers, one of the greatest cricketers of all time and a former captain of the West Indies, passed away on Friday, 11 days before turning 90.
“#TeamIndia is wearing black armbands to pay tribute to West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers following his passing on Friday,” the Indian team management said in a post.
