India will play their 1000th at the Narendra Modi stadium against West Indies on Sunday. Team India had played their 500th match in 2002 and two decades later, the side has now reached the milestone of playing 1,000 ODIs.
India skipper Rohit Sharma has said that it will be a privilege for him to lead the Men-in-Blue as they take the field to play their 1,000th ODI. On the special occasion, skipper Rohit, former captain Virat Kohli and coach Rahul Dravid shared a message in a video posted by the BCCI on Sunday.
“It will be a historic moment as we play the 1000th ODI. I would like to congratulate all the players who have taken part in this long journey. It is an honour for me to lead the side in that game, it will be a privilege to lead the boys. Our journey has been fantastic over the years. So many players have tried to put their best foot forward, we will also try to keep raising the bar,” said Rohit Sharma.
Kohli, meanwhile, reflected on the talent India has had over the years and expressed his pride at having played a part in Indian ODI history. “It has gone from strength to strength. We had a couple of transitions that went very well which shows you the bench strength and kind of talent we had in this country. I’m proud of having had such a long career with Indian cricket team and been part of so many games which have eventually brought us to the landmark of 1000 ODIs. It’s a big number and a testimony to how many matches played over the year,” said the former India captain.
Head coach Dravid said that India didn’t play a lot of ODIs but the 1983 World cup win changed a lot of things.” One-day cricket became very popular with the fans in the 90s and we started to play a lot of ODIs since which reflects on our success in the World Cups of 1983 and 2011. The number of games that India play has increased manifold. The game has grown in this country and it has become one of the top format,” Dravid said