On Thursday, Virat Kohli will play his 500th international match when India takes on the West Indies in the second Test.
The second Test match between India and the West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad will be a watershed occasion for one of the players involved. Virat Kohli will become the tenth and most recent member of a very elite club of players: those who have served their country 500 times or more on the international stage.
As a result, we’ve prepared a comprehensive list of players who are not only legendary in their own right, but have also reached the colossal 500-match mark on the international scene. Many of these players excelled in multiple formats and achieved records that have become synonymous with success and brilliance. Here is a list of the nine players who have made history by accomplishing that feat during the course of their careers:
Unsurprisingly, the greatest run-scorer and possibly the best batter of all time leads this list. Tendulkar’s greatness was enhanced by his incredible longevity. He made his debut as a 16-year-old in 1989 and played until he was 40 in 2013, totaling 664 matches (just one of which was a T20I), 34000+ runs, and 100 centuries. In addition, he concluded his career with 201 wickets.
Mahela Jayawardene – 652 matches
Jayawardena was a mainstay of Sri Lanka’s middle order throughout their most successful period of cricket. The elegant batter would enjoy an 18-year career after making his debut during the 1996 World Cup victory. He scored approximately 26000 runs and has a century in each of the game’s three versions. Surprisingly, Jayawardena is also known for having the most outfield catches in international cricket.
Kumar Sangakkara – 594 matches for
Being a wicketkeeper is one of the most demanding duties in cricket, but Sangakkara wore the gloves for the majority of his 594 matches for Sri Lanka. Sangakkara was also one of the best batters of his time, amassing over 28000 runs and having the best Test average of everyone with 10000 Test runs from 2000 to 2015.
Sanath Jayasuriya — 586 matches
Jayasuriya, the first all-rounder on this list, was not only a great cricketer, but he also changed the way white-ball cricket is played. His career spanned 22 years, and he added tremendous importance to Sri Lanka as both an opener and a backup left-arm spinner to Muttiah Muralitharan.
Ricky Ponting – 560 matches.
Ponting, the highest-ranked non-Asian player on this list, was a pivotal figure during Australia’s dominance of world cricket throughout the 2000s. Ponting has 71 century in his career and is widely recognized as one of the greatest cricketers and leaders of all time, trailing just MS Dhoni in most matches as captain.
Dhoni is the first cricketer on this list to have spent his whole career in the T20 era, and he also holds the record for most international matches as captain. Dhoni was a rock as the Indian team’s skipper and finisher, winning all three major ICC titles. Dhoni was 10 Test matches and 2 T20Is short from becoming the first player to play 100 matches across all formats when he announced his retirement from international cricket.
Shahid Afridi — 524 matches
Shahid Afridi was a true all-rounder in all senses of the word in a career spanning over 20 years for Pakistan. Another player who began his career at a young age, Afridi is one of the youngest centurions in Test cricket and the youngest ever in ODIs, having achieved his first century at the age of 16.
Jacques Kallis – 519 matches
It’s astonishing that Kallis made over 500 appearances as a fast bowler while also being South Africa’s most renowned top-order hitter. Kallis’s reputation as a “jack-of-all-trades” and an extremely unusual type of player is well-documented: with over 25000 runs and 500 wickets in 20 years, the South African is simply one of the best cricketers of all time.
Rahul Dravid – 509 matches.
Nobody in Test cricket history has survived as many deliveries as Rahul Dravid. The rock-solid ‘wall’ at the heart of Indian batting scored over 24000 runs and was an opponent no bowler wanted to face. Dravid was a constant at number three until he was over 40 years old, and for many, he epitomized how a top-order hitter should bat in Test cricket
