Playing his 500th international match, Virat Kohli headlined his 500th milestone appearance with a 76th hundred as India coasted to a healthy first innings score of 438. On Day 1, Kohli took his time and batted excellently under tricky conditions. While analysing the match, India veteran Dinesh Karthik lauded Kohli.

Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz –

“We can all say about the lovely shots that Kohli played, the cover drives and the pulls. Here is a man playing his 500th match, but he played it like it was his fifth match.

“That hunger, on a pitch that probably really didn’t aid stroke-making, he fought through it. We saw that in the first Test as well, and we are seeing it again now.

‘Here is a man playing…’, Dinesh Karthik’s interesting take on Kohli’s milestone

Dinesh Karthik also hailed Kohli’s mental toughness by highlighting India head coach Rahul Dravid’s recent comments on the star batter. He said – “If you heard Rahul Dravid speak about him, the two things that he said were respect and his sacrifices.”

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Dinesh Karthik added –

“You can see that shining through in this innings yet again. Not at his fluent best, for sure, but he made it count. Just making sure that he stood there. Played those tough balls out. Just making sure that he is mentally there, and making it count for Team India.”