"It is a great honour to captain in that game" - Rohit Sharma on leading India in the 1000th ODI

India's limited-overs skipper Rohit Sharma said it would be a great privilege for him to lead the team in its 1000th ODI.

In a video released by the BCCI ahead of the historic game against the West Indies, Rohit Sharma shared his thoughts about the match. He was joined by former captain Virat Kohli and head coach Rahul Dravid

The skipper said:

"Tomorrow (6 February 2022) is going to be a historic day for Indian cricket as we go on to play the 1000th ODI. Personally, for me, it is a great honour to captain in that game. It will be a privilege to lead the boys."

"#TeamIndia first played an ODI in 1974 and today we've reached a momentous occasion of 1000th ODI. Captain @rohitsharma45, @virat.kohli and Head Coach Rahul Dravid share their thoughts on the landmark," the BCCI wrote in the caption of the video that it shared.

"A testimony of how many matches we played over the years" - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli mentioned that 1000 ODIs is a big number and added:

"It's a big number and it is a testimony to how many matches we played over the years and how many competitive games we played over the years and continue to consistently and continue to consistently play."

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid called India's journey over the last 48 years incredible. He noted:

"I think it's been an incredible journey for India, from 1974, having played our first one-day game."

This will be Rohit Sharma's first ODI series as full-time captain. The 34-year-old, who was to lead the team in South Africa in January, missed out due to an injury.

In the media interaction before the first ODI, Rohit remarked that it is important to adapt to different situations:

“There is not a lot that we need to change. We just need to adapt to different situations of the game that is being presented in front of us.”

India will be the first team in history to play 1000 ODI games. The side emerged victorious on 518 occasions thus far out of 999 matches and lost 431 games. India and Australia are the only teams with over 500 wins in ODI cricket.