Stats: Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma create international appearances record for India

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Source: BCCI)

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma reached yet another international milestone together during India’s third One Day International (ODI) against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday, July 19. Despite the pair ending the game on the losing side, both former captains played their 400th international game together, becoming the first Indian duo to accomplish this feat.

Rohit was the standout player in the match on Sunday, hitting 138 in the second innings to help India narrowly chase down 388 at the historic venue. Virat himself chipped in with a 60-ball 74, but his efforts were too little too late as far as the Men in Blue are concerned.

Two of India’s talisman apply their trades only in the ODI format, having retired from Tests and T20 cricket over the past two years. Virat, who made his international debut in 2008, has gone on to score a total of 28,359 runs across all formats. Rohit, on the other hand, made his debut a year earlier and has scored 20,427 runs from 514 matches.

It is worth mentioning that the iconic India pair first took the field together during Virat’s debut against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on August 18, 2008. The debutant, who opened the innings alongside Gautam Gambhir, scored just 12 runs while his long-term partner hit 19. The side captained by MS Dhoni lost the game by eight wickets after posting just 146 runs on the board in the first innings.

However, across the 400 games the pair have played together, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star has hit 19,668 runs at 54.33. Meanwhile, the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain has scored 17,055 runs at an average of 43.84.

Meanwhile, the pair of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar is second in games played together for India, having represented the country 391 times. This feat is even more impressive given that there was no T20 cricket in their era.

The pair with the most international appearances together is Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, having played together 550 times.

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