Virat Kohli Reaches Major Milestone in Champions Trophy Final, Becomes Second Indian After Sachin Tendulkar to Play 550 Matches

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Virat Kohli added another remarkable milestone in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 Final against New Zealand to his illustrious career by becoming only the second Indian cricketer to play 550 international matches. He now stands behind Sachin Tendulkar, who played 664 matches across formats.

Tendulkar, regarded as one of the greatest to ever play the game, featured in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs, and a solitary T20I. Kohli's international appearances include 123 Tests, 302 ODIs, and 125 T20Is.

Following Kohli on this elite list is MS Dhoni, who played 538 matches before retiring from international cricket in August 2020. Dhoni, India's 2011 World Cup-winning captain, had 90 Test caps, 350 ODI appearances, and 98 T20I matches to his name. Kohli, who made his ODI debut in 2008, followed by his T20I debut in 2010, became a Test regular in 2011 and quickly established himself as a key figure in all three formats.

Kohli's batting record is exceptional. He has amassed 9,230 runs in Test cricket and holds the record for being the fastest batter to reach 10,000 ODI runs. His current ODI tally stands at 14,180 runs. In T20Is, he signed off with 4,188 runs before announcing his retirement from the shortest format after India's T20 World Cup triumph in 2024.

Apart from his batting heroics, Kohli also left a lasting impact as a captain. Under his leadership, India created history by winning a Test series in Australia in 2018-19, becoming the first Asian team to achieve the feat. With 40 victories in 68 matches, he remains India's most successful Test captain. His ODI captaincy record includes 65 wins from 95 matches, while India won 30 out of 50 T20Is under his leadership.

Since 2022, Kohli has been playing under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. This is his third consecutive Champions Trophy final, having been a key figure in India's title-winning campaign in 2013. He led the team in the 2017 final, where India finished as runners-up to Pakistan. As Kohli continues to break records, his legacy as one of India's greatest cricketers remains firmly intact.

As far as the match is concerned, New Zealand batting first scored 251 runs. At the time of writing this article, India were batting at after overs of play.