Legendary batter Virat Kohli has added another record to his name after returning to India’s playing XI for the first ODI against the West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Kohli is playing his 44th ODI against the West Indies, taking him past former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who played 43 matches against the Caribbean side. No Indian cricketer has featured in more ODIs against the West Indies than Kohli.

Kohli Goes Past Azharuddin

Kohli moved to the top of the list after being named in India’s XI for the series opener at the Greenfield International Stadium.

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Azharuddin remains second on the list with 43 appearances, while Kapil Dev follows with 42. Rahul Dravid played 40 ODIs against the West Indies, with MS Dhoni completing the top five with 39 matches.

PLAYER TIME SPAN MATCHES RUNS BEST SCORE 100 WICKETS BEST FIGURES 5W
Virat Kohli 2009-2026 44* 2261 157* 9 0 – 0
Mohammad Azharuddin 1985-1998 43 998 81 0 2 2/41 0
Kapil Dev 1979-1994 42 842 87 0 43 4/54 0
Rahul Dravid 1997-2009 40 1348 109* 3 0 – 0
MS Dhoni 2005-2019 39 1005 95 0 1 1/14 0
Sachin Tendulkar 1991-2011 39 1573 141* 4 20 4/34 0

Chanderpaul Holds Overall India-West Indies Record

While Kohli now leads the Indian list, the overall record for most India-West Indies ODIs belongs to former West Indies batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

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Chanderpaul played 46 ODIs against India between 1994 and 2009. Kohli can match that mark if he features in all three matches of the ongoing series.

PLAYER COUNTRY TIME SPAN MATCHES RUNS WICKETS
Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies 1994-2009 46 1319 4
Carl Hooper West Indies 1987-2002 45 1279 36
Marlon Samuels West Indies 2001-2018 44 1206 17
Virat Kohli India 2009-2026 44* 2261* 0
Mohammad Azharuddin India 1985-1998 43 998 0
Kapil Dev India 1979-1994 42 842 43
Brian Lara West Indies 1991-2007 42 1142 –
Chris Gayle West Indies 1999-2019 41 1334 23
Rahul Dravid India 1997-2009 40 1348 0

Kohli Eyes Another Major Record

The Indian batter also has a chance to create another piece of history in the opening ODI.

Kohli has scored nine ODI centuries against the West Indies so far. Another hundred in Thiruvananthapuram would take him to 10 centuries against the Caribbean side.

If he achieves the milestone, Kohli would become the first player to score 10 ODI hundreds against the West Indies.

IND vs WI 1st ODI

Turning to the match, India captain Shubman Gill opted to bowl in the opener clash of the three-match ODI series at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. 

India vs West Indies Playing XIs

West Indies (Playing XI): John Campbell, Justin Greaves, Keacy Carty, Shai Hope(w/c), Amir Jangoo, Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul(w), Naman Dhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Gurnoor Brar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna