Virat Kohli achieves a rare feat in Vizag

XtraTime Web Desk: India skipper Virat Kohli has reached a huge milestone in international cricket on Wednesday when he went out for the toss against West Indies in Vizag. With this Kohli has made his 400th appearance in international cricket. The run machine has so far played 84 Test matches and 75 T20Is in his career so far and today is his 241st ODI. He becomes the 8th Indian to reach the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar (664), MS Dhoni (538), Rahul Dravid (509), Mohammad Azharuddin (433), Sourav Ganguly (424), Anil Kumble (403) and Yuvraj Singh (402).

Overall, he is the 33rd player to reach the milestone. Here is a list of all Indian players who have played 400+ matches in international cricket:

1. Sachin Tendulkar- 664 (India)

2. MS Dhoni- 538 (India/Asia)

3. Rahul Dravid- 509 (India/Asia/ICC)

4. Mohammad Azharuddin- 433 (India)

5. Sourav Ganguly- 424 (India/Asia)

6. Anil Kumble- 403 (India/Asia)

7. Yuvraj Singh- 402 (India/Asia)

8. Virat Kohli- 399* (India)

Kohli lost his fourth toss on the trot to Windies captain Kieron Pollard, who once again elected to field. Speaking about his decision, Pollard said: “We are going to field first. It is a lot variables and coming to the unknown. Sometimes you want to see what is going to take place, want to see what our pacers are going to get and most times in night cricket the ball tends to come on to the bat. We have people who like the ball coming on to the bat and we back ourselves to chase.”

On being asked to bat first, skipper Kohli said: “Not a bad pitch at all. It is a pretty hard pitch and good to bat on. We wanted to field first. This is a ground where we have chased well but having said that we cannot rely on the toss. That is why we have made one change to our team, we want to solidify both aspects of our game. The toss is not in your control and you have to be ready to do either. The pitch is better to play on than the last game. Even the first innings so should have lot of runs on offer.”

West Indies currently lead the series 1-0 after defeating the hosts by 8 wickets in the first ODI in Chennai. A win in Vizag will seal series for visitors.