'When I was playing, he was a...' - India head coach Rahul Dravid recalls Virat Kohli's journey as latter makes 500th international appearance

Former Indian skipper and modern-day batting great, Virat Kohli Is appearing in his 500^th international match in the ongoing second Test against West Indies. Meanwhile, Virat’s former senior teammate and current head coach of Team India recalled Virat Kohli’s journey in international cricket for Team India.

"He's a real inspiration to so many players within this team without a doubt, to so many boys and girls in India. His numbers and stats speak for themselves, his performances - it's all there in the book. But I think for me what's great to see first-hand is the effort and work he puts behind the scenes when no one's watching. That's reflecting in the fact that he's going to be playing 500 games,” said Rahul Dravid before the start of the second and the last of the two-match Test series against West Indies.

Notably, this year 2023 is also going to be a landmark year for Virat Kohli as he’ll be completing 15 years in international cricket for India. The 34-year-old made his international debut 15 years back in the year 2008 on the 18^th of August against Sri Lanka.

Here's what Rahul Dravid said further on Virat Kohli

Coming back to Rahul Dravid’s statement on Kohli, the former also recalled the time when he played alongside Kohli in Team India. It was also the time the Delhi-born star was starting his international career for India.

"It's nice to see Virat's journey. When I was playing, he was a youngster coming through. And then I was not involved in the team as such, I watched it from the outside with a lot of admiration for what he's done and what he's continued to achieve,” said Dravid.

"You don't have to say anything, just by the way you conduct yourself, the way you carry yourself, the way you go about practice and about your fitness, it's an inspiration to a lot of players coming through the system. Hopefully, they follow that and they are inspired like Virat to play so many games. Longevity comes with a lot of hard work, discipline, and adaptability and he's shown all of that. Long may it continue,” he added later.