Record Alert: Virat Kohli Surpasses MS Dhoni To Become India's Most-Capped Indian Player

India’s star batter Virat Kohli surpassed MS Dhoni in order to become the second most-capped player from India across all formats. Kohli appeared in his 536th international game during the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. Dhoni who led India to all three ICC trophies played 535 matches for India between 2004 and 2019 before taking retirement in 2019.

Back in 2008, Virat Kohli made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka and has been going solid, taking part in a total of 116 Tests, 295 ODIs, and 125 T20Is as of now. He has collected a total of 27,041 international runs. 

Kohli is now standing behind only Sachin Tendulkar, who still holds the record for the most international appearances by an Indian cricketer, with 664 caps.

Earlier, according to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli took the onus to bat at number three position in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After a gap of eight years, Kohli came out to bat at number 3 and got out for a nine-ball duck against William O’Rourke.

“Yes, he is a local boy. So he has to bat at 3? (laughs). After a long time, KL Rahul has found a spot at No. 6. We want to make him bat there. The experienced players are the ones who have to take up more responsibility. This time, it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do that,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.

"We asked him whether he could bat at No. 3. Sarfaraz, we also wanted to give him the position that he usually bats -- 4, 5 and 6. We didn't want to change Rishabh and KL. Hence, Sarfaraz went at No. 4 and Virat batted at No. 3. It's a good sign. Players coming up and taking responsibility and owning up the challenge. It's a good sign,” Rohit said.