Batting greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have become the first pair to play 400 international matches together for India. They achieved the remarkable milestone at the Lord’s Cricket Ground during the third ODI between India and England.
It’s a testament to the duo’s longevity and skill. India has no dearth of talent, and every year, new players come to challenge their dominance in the sport, but both Rohit and Kohli have tried to lead their careers on their terms as much as possible.
Rohit and Kohli had already become India’s most enduring international pairing after surpassing the legendary duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who featured together in 391 matches. Their 400th appearance as teammates further strengthened that record and moved
them to seventh on the all-time list of most international matches played together.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene top the standings with 550 matches as a pair, followed by Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan with 426 appearances.
The third ODI at Lord’s was Rohit’s 513th international and Kohli’s 561st. That means over 70% of their careers have been spent together.
In the international matches both Rohit and Kohli are playing, the former has scored 16,917 runs at an average of 43.6, with a whopping 44 centuries. Meanwhile, Kohli has scored 19,594 in these 400 games, at 54.3 with 56 tons.
Kohli and Rohit’s careers are under clouds
While India will celebrate this achievement, it comes at a time when there’s a lot of speculation around both players’ future. There have been a lot of rumors around Rohit possibly playing his last ODI at Lord’s because the selectors have reportedly told him that he’s not part of their plans for the 2027 World Cup.
When this news broke, their former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his worry that the same might happen with Virat Kohli were he to slip up from his excellent current form.
