IND vs WI: Virat Kohli Played His 500th Game Like It Was His Fifth Match: Dinesh Karthik's Stunning Take

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was all praise for Virat Kohli’s commitment as the latter played a fine knock on day one of the ongoing second Test between West Indies and India in Trinidad.

The ongoing game is Virat Kohli’s 500th match in international cricket as he joined an elite club. He became just the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni to reach 500 game in international cricket. Overall, the former India skipper became only the tenth cricketer to achieve the feat.

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As he has been doing for more than a decade, Virat Kohli once again rescued India after a mini collapse on the opening day of the Test. After Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma added 139 runs for the first wicket, India lost four wickets in quick succession to find themselves reeling at 182 for 4.

Virat Kohli then scored an unbeaten fifty and shared an unbeaten stand of 106 runs with Ravindra Jadeja to rescue the team. At stumps, he was unbeaten on 87 and Jadeja was on 36 as India finished the day on 288 for 4 after being asked to bat first by the hosts.

Dinesh Karthik praises Virat Kohli’s commitment:

As Virat Kohli worked hard for yet another crucial knock, Dinesh Karthik lavished praise on his work ethic. The wicketkeeper-batsman pointed out that his IPL teammate worked very hard in testing conditions and opined that he played the match as if it was his 5th game and not 500th. Karthik also stated that while Kohli was not at his fluent best, he still managed to make things work.

“We can all say about the lovely shots that he (Virat Kohli) played, the cover drives and the pulls. But what was really good for me was what happened between his ears. Here is a man playing his 500th match, but he played it like it was his fifth match. That hunger, on a pitch that probably really didn’t aid stroke-making, he fought through it. We saw that in the first Test as well, and we are seeing it again now,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

“If you heard Rahul Dravid speak about him, the two things that he said were respect and his sacrifices. You can see that shining through in this innings yet again. Not at his fluent best, for sure, but he made it count. Just making sure that he stood there. Played those tough balls out. Even if he could play a million shots, just making sure that he is mentally there, just making it count for Team India,” he added.

Trademark cover drive from @imVkohli
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