The third-highest run-getter in T20Is at the moment, Virat Kohli is one of the best T20I batters in the game right now. The former India skipper made his T20I debut on June 12th 2010 when India had toured Zimbabwe. In this article, we take a look at the playing XI Virat Kohli made his T20I debut.
The impact of Virat Kohli on Indian cricket has been terrific. Especially in the T20Is, Virat, during his time, had become the ideal template for the perfect batter. He helped India win a lot of games and had been crucial to the team’s decent performance in the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups. Not many players from Virat’s first T20I playing are still active and a few have even quit the sport. We take a look at them in this article.
Openers: M Vijay and Naman Ojha (WK)
Murali Vijay and Naman Ojha were the openers in the playing XI Virat Kohli made his T20I debut. Back then, due to their performances in IPL, both Vijay and Naman had been in good demand. While Vijay was scoring runs heavily for Chennai Super Kings, Naman Ojha was an important part of the Rajasthan Royals. Since MS Dhoni was rested for the tour, the latter had been selected as the wicket-keeper. While Naman has retired from the game, Vijay is not very active. Naman recently played in the Legends League Cricket.
Middle-Order: Suresh Raina (C), Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Suresh Raina was the captain of the squad in which Virat Kohli made his debut. In MS Dhoni’s absence, Raina was the preferred captaincy choice back then. While Raina has retired from international cricket, having gone unsold for IPL 2022, he turned up as a commentator. Rohit Sharma, before becoming an opener, was a solid player at No.4. Even in IPL, Rohit has scored a bulk of his runs in this role. He is the current captain of Team India in all three formats. In his first game, Virat scored 26 runs off 21 deliveries and stayed till the end to finish the match.
All-Rounders: Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan was the all-rounder in the playing XI Virat Kohli made his T20I debut. The Baroda all-rounder was the Man of the Match in that game. He first bowled two overs giving away just 10 runs before finishing the game with the knock of 37(24)*. Like Naman Ojha, Yusuf was also recently part of the Legends League Cricket after retirement.
Bowlers: R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla
R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla were all part of the spin attack of that XI. While Ashwin is still an active part of the game, Pragyan Ojha has retired and is now into administration. Piyush Chawla had gone unsold for IPL 2022 and became a commentator. Domestic legends Vinay Kumar and Ashok Dinda were the pacers for that game. Vinay has retired and now holds a role in the scouting department of Mumbai Indians. Ashok Dinda is now a politician as well and has moved away from Bengal Cricket.
