Virat Kohli, a fan favorite for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is about to hit a big milestone in T20 cricket. RCB kicks off their IPL 2025 season against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, March 22, at Eden Gardens. When Kohli steps onto that field, he’ll be the third Indian player to play in 400 T20 matches. Right now, he’s at 399 matches, joining Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik in this exclusive group. Rohit leads the pack with 448 matches, while Karthik has played 412.
Here’s a quick look at the most T20 matches played by Indian players:
- Rohit Sharma: 448 matches
- Dinesh Karthik: 412 matches
- Virat Kohli: 399 matches
- MS Dhoni: 391 matches
- Suresh Raina: 336 matches
Kohli will also be the 23rd person in the world to reach 400 T20 games, with Kieron Pollard at the top of the global list, having played 695 matches.
For context, here are the top five players with the most T20 matches worldwide:
- Kieron Pollard: 695 matches
- Dwayne Bravo: 582 matches
- Shoaib Malik: 554 matches
- Andre Russell: 538 matches
- Sunil Narine: 536 matches
Kohli is a standout in the IPL, with the most runs in the league’s history. He has scored 8004 runs in 252 matches, far ahead of Shikhar Dhawan, who is in second place with 6769 runs. Kohli has won the orange cap twice, topping the scoring charts in 2016 with 973 runs and again in 2024 with 741 runs.
As for the IPL 2025, this will be the first time KKR and RCB face off in the opening match since the tournament started in 2008. KKR is looking to defend their title and become the third team ever to win back-to-back championships after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Meanwhile, RCB is still in pursuit of their first title in this 18th season.
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