While Team India prepares to play its 1000th ODI, the cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar went all gaga over it and termed the achievement as the "huge milestone" for the entire nation and the Rohit Sharma-led side. Indian side will become the first team to play the 1000th ODI when the team locks horns with West Indies on Sunday (February 6) in the first match of the series.
"India playing the 1000th ODI is a huge milestone. The first ODI was played in 1974, it was only possible because of the past cricketers, current cricketers, the past and current board members," Tendulkar said.
"And not to forget the most important people, our Indian cricket team well-wishers, from the past generations and the ones who are today with us," he added.
The former batter also wished Team India the very best for the upcoming West Indies series.
"I want to say it is an achievement for all of us and the entire nation should be proud of this and hope Indian cricket continues to grow from strength to strength. I wish them all the very best for the coming series and especially for the 1000th ODI," the 48-year-old further added.
Team India is all set to play three ODIs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from February 6 followed by the T20I series at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata from February 16.
India, who have played 999 ODI matches thus far, account for 518 victories, 431 defeats, the nineties, and 41 matches ending with no result. They played their 500th match back in 2002 and two decades later would reach the milestone of playing 1000 ODIs.
Meanwhile, all the three ODIs between India and West Indies, including the landmark match, will be played behind closed doors at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Gujarat Cricket Association confirmed earlier this week that the decision to host the ODIs without fans at the stadium was taken because of Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier in the day, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly also confirmed that there won't be any elaborate celebrations during the 1000th ODI as he highlighted the bio-bubble protocols in place in Ahmedabad.
"No, nothing as such as everything is being held in the bubble. We have to maintain the COVID-19 protocols so yes elaborate celebrations won’t be possible and in any case matches are being held closed doors," Ganguly said.
Notably, as many as 3 players in the squad, including openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad along with baiter Shreyas Iyer tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Ahmedabad. However, the rest of the team began training after returning negative result in the RT-PCR test.
India ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan.
India T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel.
West Indies ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Brandon King, Fabian Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh.
West Indies T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Fabian Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh.
