India skipper Virat Kohli is arguably the greatest batsman in modern-day cricket and his ability with the bat has seen him setting the bar for the following generations. However, the foundation of Virat’s greatness was laid on August 18, 2008, when he made his international debut in an ODI vs Sri Lanka in Dambulla.
When Virat Kohli made his ODI debut in 2008 in Dambulla, not many would have predicted a meteoric rise for the then chubby Delhi batsman. Kohli was dismissed for 18 in his first innings and went without a hundred in his first year in international cricket.
Over the last twelve years, we have seen Virat Kohli’s growth from a tenacious teenager to a modern great. Despite having a mediocre start to his international career, the current India skipper slowly gained ground and established himself as the best in the world in a few year’s time.
Virat Kohli on Tuesday took to Instagram as he walked down the memory lane 12 years after his international debut. Kohli shared a collage of his seven pictures over the years and captioned the post, “12 years. Time flies. Forever grateful.”
Virat Kohli has been part of India’s World Cup-winning team in 2011, the Champions Trophy-winning team in 2013 and the team that climbed to the No.1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings.
On Tuesday, the BCCI shared a post to celebrate “12 years of Virat Kohli”, in which they congratulated the current India captain for the mark he has made in the world of cricket since making his international debut.
As we celebrate #12YearsOfViratKohli take a look at one his fine knocks (154*) against New Zealand in Mohali.@imVkohli pic.twitter.com/W5SrUAkEBE
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 18, 2020
Wriddhiman Saha also wished Indian skipper on his 12 years journey as an international cricketer. Saha captioned the post, “12 Years of @virat.kohli in International Cricket! Congratulations and wishing you the best for the years to come! Best wishes! #ViratKohli #12Years #IndianCricket.
Kohli has 43 ODI centuries to his name, apart from 27 tons in Test cricket. The India captain has surpassed the 11,000-run mark in the ODIs and has an average of 59.33. He has also played 86 Tests in which he has scored 7,240 runs at an average of 53.62. In the T20Is, Kohli is the leading run-scorer at the moment, closely followed by his deputy Rohit Sharma.
Virat Kohli took over from MS Dhoni as the Test side’s captain in 2014 and has led the team to major victories in the recent past. While India gave South Africa and England a run for their money in 2018, Kohli’s men became the first Indian team to win a Test series in Australia when they completed a 2-1 win Down Under earlier this year.