It was a milestone day for Virat Kohli and he marked it by grinding out an innings that helped India wrestle back advantage against a spirited West Indies side on Day 1 of the second Test in Port-of-Spain. Kohli ended the day unbeaten on 87 off 161 balls as he and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that India don't lose any wickets in the third session after the visitors lost four in the second.
The stand between Kohli and Jadeja was worth 106 for the fifth wicket when Stumps were called on Day 1. Kohli looked far more assured on Thursday than he did in the first Test, in which he had scored 76 and had taken over 80 balls to score his first boundary. In Trinidad, Kohli got off the mark with a four.
He eventually reached his half century with a cover-driven shot that went for four. In the process, he became the first player to have scored a half century in his 500th international. Kohli had become just the 10th cricketer in history to have played a 500th match in international cricket after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ricky Ponting, Shahid Afridi and Jacques Kallis.
Kohli will be hoping that he will be able to soldier on and reach his 30th Test ton on Friday. It would take his tally for the year to two Test centuries, having earlier scored a 186 in the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. It would also be his first Test century away from home since December 2018, when he scored 123 against Australia in Perth.
India's 500 internationals club
{{/usCountry}}Kohli will be hoping that he will be able to soldier on and reach his 30th Test ton on Friday. It would take his tally for the year to two Test centuries, having earlier scored a 186 in the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. It would also be his first Test century away from home since December 2018, when he scored 123 against Australia in Perth.
India's 500 internationals club
{{/usCountry}}“I’m really grateful,” Kohli had told bcci.tv before the match about reaching the milestone. “I feel very blessed that I’ve had such a long journey playing for India, and such a long Test career because I’ve had to work really hard for it. It makes you feel happy about the hard work you’ve put in, to see the longevity in the game and the results over the years as well. So yeah, I’m very grateful.”
Kohli is the fourth player from India to have reached 500 internationals. He has played with the three other players at some stage in his international career. Sachin Tendulkar, who shared a dressing room with Kohli till 2013 in international cricket, ended his illustrious career on 664 matches. Rahul Dravid, who also played with Kohli in the early stages of the latter's career and is now India's head coach, played 504 matches. Meanwhile Dhoni, who was captain of India before Kohli took over and under whom the latter made his international debut, played 535 matches.