Detailed breakdown of Virat Kohli's workload after 'I’ve played most games in last 15 years' remark

Breaking down Virat Kohli's workload after 'I’ve played most games in last 15 years' remark (AFP Photo)

Prior to his long-awaited comeback in India colours in Perth, Virat Kohli had spoken of the workload that had finally taken its toll and compelled him to give up playing for the country in two formats – Tests and T20Is. “It has been a long time since I took my last vacation,” he told the host broadcaster. “Simply being able to spend some quality time with your kids, family at home, it has been a beautiful stage and something that I have enjoyed greatly.”

When Kohli speaks of workload, you’re compelled to listen, because perhaps no one else in the game’s history played so much at full throttle for so long. The volume of matches he has played is incomparable and may help to explain why his numbers tailed off a little in the latter part of his career.

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Though Kohli first played for India in August 2008, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson both made their Test debuts before him, in 2010. But when you consider the 15-year period that Kohli spoke of, he played more Tests (123) than either Smith (117) or Williamson (105).

In the white-ball formats, the numbers aren’t even close. Kohli played as many as 269 ODIs for India in that period. That was over 100 more than both Smith (165) and Williamson (167) played. As for T20Is, Kohli made nearly as many appearances (123) as Smith (54) and Williamson (93) put together.

Then there’s the small matter of the IPL, where Kohli played 222 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) across the last 15 seasons, in addition to six games in the now-defunct Champions League. The numbers for Smith (103) and Williamson (79) are not even half that. Yes, both men have played a number of games in other T20 domestic competitions, but not one whose intensity can compare to the IPL.

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Even the man he is most often compared to, Rohit Sharma, hasn’t played anything like as much. Rohit is slightly ahead when it comes to T20Is (140) and franchise cricket – 236 matches for Mumbai Indians, including nine in the Champions League – but streets behind in Tests (67) and ODIs (220).

Those trolling Kohli after his eight-ball duck in Perth only reveal their abject ignorance, because the numbers behind his words show how he carried Indian cricket for a decade.