On this day in 2008: Virat Kohli made his international debut

New Delhi [India], Aug 18 (ANI): It was on August 18, 2008, when India skipper Virat Kohli made his international debut.
He played his first ODI against Sri Lanka at Dambulla and managed to score just 12 runs.
The right-handed batsman had opened the batting for the Men in Blue, and he faced 22 balls and batted for 33 minutes at the crease.
Kohli also managed to hit one boundary but he was sent back to the pavilion bu Nuwan Kulasekara.
India was bundled out for 146 in this particular match as Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan both scalped three wickets each.
Sri Lanka chased down the total with 91 balls to spare and with eight wickets in hand.
Kohli had to wait for 14 matches for his first century, and he finally breached the 100-run mark against Sri Lanka at Kolkata in 2009.
He went on to play a knock of 109 and this century was the first of many.
To date, Kohli has registered 43 centuries in ODI cricket and has established his image as one of the finest run-chasers in the history of cricket.
The 31-year-old has played 248 ODIs so far, in which he has scored 11,867 runs at an average of 59.33 with his highest score being 183 against Pakistan.
Kohli is in the second place, only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the list for most hundreds in ODI cricket.
The Indian skipper is at the top spot in ODI rankings and is at the second spot in the Test rankings. The right-handed batsman has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.
His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date.
The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.
Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.
Kohli would next be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore with the Indian Premier League set to begin from September 19 in the UAE. (ANI)

Raj Kantak

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