When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma took the field for their 392nd international encounter together during the Ranchi ODI, they created a new record for India. This indicated that the renowned Ro-Ko pair outperformed Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who played 391 games together.
Kohli and Rohit returned to the Indian side after a month-long break following their ODI tour of Australia, where both featured in all three matches. Kohli now appears twice on the list of Indian pairs with the most international games together — having also played 309 matches alongside Ravindra Jadeja, who is part of the XI for the Ranchi ODI.
Indian duos with most international matches together:
392 Matches: Virat Kohli/Rohit Sharma
391 Matches: Sachin Tendulkar/Rahul Dravid
369 Matches: Rahul Dravid/Sourav Ganguly
367 Matches: Sachin Tendulkar/Anil Kumble
341 Matches: Sachin Tendulkar/Sourav Ganguly
309 Matches: Virat Kohli/Ravindra Jadeja
Many have questioned whether Kohli and Rohit can play till the 2027 World Cup, raising questions about their future in international cricket. They have the opportunity to join the 400-match club together if such is the case.
Most international appearances as a duo:
550 – Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
426 – Mahela Jayawardene & Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)
418 – Kumar Sangakkara & Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)
408 – Sanath Jayasuriya & Muthiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
407 – Jacques Kallis & Mark Boucher (South Africa)
392* – Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli (India)
With 32 runs needed to surpass the Proteas icon, Kohli entered the match as the third-highest run scorer in India vs. South Africa ODIs. India was in trouble at 25/1 after Yashasvi Jaiswal left for 18 runs, and the star batsman joined Rohit. Soon after, Kohli and Rohit took control and prevented South Africa from doing so.
After a shaky start, Kohli found his rhythm with a straight drive off Nandre Burger and kept punishing the Proteas bowlers, surpassing Kallis’ record with a boundary.
Most runs in India vs South Africa ODIs
- Sachin Tendulkar – 2001 runs
- Virat Kohli – 1536* runs
- Jacques Kallis – 1535 runs
- Gary Kirsten – 1377 runs
- AB de Villiers – 1357 runs
