When Virat Kohli made his India debut; video, stats and more

When Virat Kohli made his India debut; video, stats and more

The year 2008 was a special one in Indian cricket. Two days before a new-look Team India led by MS Dhoni defeated Australia to register a historic win in the CB tri-series, a 19-year-old Delhi boy led the country’s under-19 team to a World Cup triumph in Malaysia. The following week, the boy would be picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the second auction of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) for US$ 50,000.

The boy, Virat Kohli, would go on to play 13 of RCB’s 14 matches in the first edition with little success. In a line-up that boasted Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Cameron White, there was little room for the young boy to bat up the order. Coming down the order, he would often struggle to clear the ropes. It’s another story that Kohli would go on to be one of the finest batters in the IPL history, almost amassing 1,000 runs in the 2016 edition. Playing for the same franchise since the tournament’s inception, Kohli reportedly pockets Rs 17 crore per season.

Returning to 2008, Delhi had won the Ranji Trophy earlier that year, and Kohli played an important role in it slamming two centuries. Though he didn’t play a lot of senior List A cricket that season, it seemed apparent that he was quite a fit for the format. India would tour Sri Lanka in July. Selectors were keen on investing in youth and Kohli became a beneficiary making the cut for the ODIs. After a disappointing Test series loss, India stared at more agonies with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag being ruled out of the ODI-leg due to injuries.

***

August 18, 2008. Still 19, Kohli would get his India cap.

Dhoni opted to bat at Dambulla, a surface that looked good for batting. In the absence of Tendulkar and Sehwag, Kohli opened alongside his Delhi senior Gautam Gambhir, who fell for a second-ball duck. It was only in the third over that Kohli faced his first ball in international cricket. The bowler was the wily Chaminda Vaas who tested the teenager with his angled-across stock ball that would straighten after pitching. Kohli would defend it well. Vaas would then beat Kohli’s bat with a delivery angled across.

He looked in discomfort during his 30-odd-minute stay at the crease, trying to fathom the ball movement from Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara. The seventh over of the innings would see Kohli flick Vaas for a boundary, the first of his career and a stroke that would be his bread-and-butter for the years to come. He would depart in the following over, leg-before, to Kulasekara for a 22-ball 12.

Here’s Kohli’s first innings.

India would be bowled out for 146 and suffer an eight-wicket loss.

***

India would go on to win the series 3-2. Kohli would get starts in every game, getting a fifty in the fourth ODI. He also got two scores in the 30s and one in 20s. Tendulkar and Sehwag’s return would see his exit. He would have to wait 13 months to play his next series.

Since making his international debut on this day in 2008, Kohli has gone on to amass 21,901 international runs. During the same time, no other batter has even come close. South Africa’s Hashim Amla stands the next highest with 16,776 runs. Out of the active cricketers, Australia’s David Warner is next with 14,718 runs. Kohli would make his T20I debut and Test debut in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Here’s Kohli’s rise year-by-year in every format as he rose the ranks to establish himself as one of the greatest all-format batters of all-time.

 

Tests

 

ODIs

 

T20Is

Years

M

Runs

Ave

100s

M

Runs

Ave

SR

100s

M

Runs

Ave

SR

50+

2008

 

 

 

 

5

159

31.8

66.5

0

 

 

 

 

 

2009

 

 

 

 

10

325

54.2

84.4

1

 

 

 

 

 

2010

 

 

 

 

25

995

47.4

85.1

3

2

26

-

123.8

0

2011

5

202

22.4

0

34

1381

47.6

85.6

4

4

61

15.3

117.3

0

2012

9

689

49.2

3

17

1026

68.4

93.8

5

14

471

39.3

132.7

4

2013

8

616

56

2

34

1268

52.8

97.5

4

1

29

29

131.8

0

2014

10

847

44.6

4

21

1054

58.6

99.6

4

7

385

96.3

133.7

5

2015

9

640

42.7

2

20

623

36.6

80.6

2

2

44

22

157.1

0

2016

12

1215

75.9

4

10

739

92.4

100

3

15

641

106.8

140.3

7

2017

10

1059

75.6

5

26

1460

76.8

99.1

6

10

299

37.4

152.6

2

2018

13

1312

55.1

5

14

1202

133.6

102.6

6

10

211

30.1

122

1

2019

8

612

68

2

26

1377

59.9

96.4

5

10

466

77.7

147.9

5

2020

2

38

9.5

0

6

258

43

91.8

0

7

161

32.2

141.2

0

Overall

86

7240

53.6

27

248

11867

59.3

93.3

43

82

2794

50.8

138.2

24

***

BCCI congratulated the Indian captain by celebrating one of his finest knocks.

The man himself took to Instagram to relive his journey.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

12 years. Time flies. Forever grateful

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) on

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