Rohit Sharma added another feather to his colourful cap when he walked out to at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati for the 2nd T20I against South Africa.
The Indian skipper became the first Indian player to feature in 400 T20 games. Overall, he is 9th on the list of players to have featured in the most number of matches in the shortest format.
Former West Indies captain and all-rounder Kieron Pollard tops the list with 614 games. So far, he has represented 20 teams across the world including the West Indies. His compatriot Dwayne Bravo stands next on the list with 556 games and has played for 27 teams including the West Indies.
The likes of Shoaib Malik (481), Chris Gayle (463), Sunil Narine (435), Ravi Bopara (429), Andre Russell (428) and David Miller (402) are ahead of Rohit Sharma on the list.
Among the Indian players, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is the second cricketer with the most number of T20 games to his credit, 367 games, while MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are third and fourth with 361 and 353 games, respectively.
List of Indian players with most T20 games:
Player | No of T20 Games Played |
Rohit Sharma | 400 |
Dinesh Karthik | 367 |
MS Dhoni | 361 |
Virat Kohli | 353 |
Suresh Raina | 336 |
Meanwhile, in the 2ndIndia vs South Africa T20I, the visitors opted to bowl first with a change to their playing XI. Proteas captain Temba Bavuma informed that fast bowler Lungi Ingidi replaced Tabraiz Shamsi for Sunday’s match.
“We are gonna bowl first, manage our energies really well. This one looks like a different pitch. We want to do the job with the ball and then the batters to finish it off. We had a few positives from the first game. Just one change. Ngidi comes in for Shamsi,” said Temba Bavuma after winning the toss.
On the other hand, India have decided to go unchanged in the 2nd T20I.
“Just want to come out, play some good cricket and entertain the crowd. We have never beaten (speaking of a series win) these guys here and it’s gonna take a lot of effort from everyone to do that and we have come out prepared and pretty much ready for the game,” Rohit said at the toss.
“Not too sure how the conditions will be. When I touched the pitch there was some stickiness and we gotta be a little cautious at the start. We got solid batting line-up and it will be a challenge upfront. We are playing the same team,” he added.