On this day in 2008: Virat Kohli made his debut in the International cricket

Virat Kohli made debut his debut in the International cricket

It was on 18th August in 2008 the world witnessed the 18-year bloke Virat Kohli making his debut in the Indian cricket team.  Kohli is the current skipper of the Indian cricket team across all the formats of the game. Seldom, did anyone know that Kohli would come this far to be one of the most successful batsmen of this era! 

Virat Kohli graced the international stage for the very first time in 2008. Twelve years of out-and-out dedication, passion, and hard work, Kohli established himself as one of the best cricketers ever.

Kohli made his debut against Sri Lanka in the 1st ODI match of India tour of Sri Lanka at Dambulla. However, it was not a kind of start he had expected to make on the international stage after experiencing victory in the Under-19 World Cup the same year.
The 19-year old was chosen as the opening batsman of the innings alongside Gautam Gambhir.

But the right-hand batsman could manage to hit a single four and got wrapped up at 12 runs by in KMDN Kulasekara. In fact, team India could set up a meagre score of 146 runs and get bundled up in 46 overs.  It required just 35 overs for Sri Lanka to chase the target and win the match by 8 wickets.

But the iron-willed Kohli knew it was just the start of his uphill battle and henceforth, he kept stacking and breaching umpteen numbers of records. His fastest 10000 ODI runs, both in terms of innings and period, fastest 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year and fastest 4,000 Test runs as a captain are some of the most notable records currently held but the Indian skipper.

Virat Kohli Fastest to score 7000 ODI Runs
With the keen eyes of winning the game, the explosive and modern era’s most promising batsman also established himself as a competent team leader, after he was appointed as the Test captain in 2015 and ODI and T20 captain of the Indian cricket team in 2017. He is credited well for uplifting India’s rankings in all the formats of the game.

In his career span of 12 years till now, the 31-year old has proved that he is on par with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar by breaking several records that have not been possible for any other cricketer.

He is the only player to reach the milestone of 10000 ODI runs other than Tendulkar, breaking his record in just 205 innings while it required Tendulkar 259 innings. His comparison with the Master Blaster is tantamount to calling him a legend, and he has proved in these 12 years that he has earned it with sheer grit, dedication, and unyielding approach towards his failures.

Virat Kohli has so far played 248 ODIs, 86 Tests and 82 T20Is scoring 11867, 7240, and 2794 runs respectively. Looking at his resplendent career till now Dilip Vengsarkar must be proud of his decision of rooting for and selecting Virat Kohli for the 2008 Sri Lanka tour. He still has got a long way to go.

Kohli will be next seen in action in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year in UAE, playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).