3 Indian players who made their Test debut in the same year as Virat Kohli but could not make it big
Virat Kohli started his Test career on June 20, 2011 against the West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. 12 years have passed since Kohli first walked out to bat, donning the whites for India in the longest format. He did not have a great debut, scoring just 19 runs in the match, but the right-handed batter went on to have an illustrious career in Tests.
Shedding some light on his extraordinary numbers in Test cricket thus far, Virat Kohli has scored 8,479 runs in 109 matches at an average of 48.73. He has recorded 28 centuries and seven double hundreds in his Test career so far.
The star Indian batter also had a memorable stint as the nation's Test captain. India recorded many famous overseas wins while playing under his leadership, including their maiden Test series win in Australia in 2018.
While Virat Kohli became a superstar after debuting in June 2011, three other Indian cricketers who debuted in the same year could not make it big.
One of them now works as a commentator, while one played his last Test in 2011 itself. Without further ado, let's have a look at those three players.
#1. Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli made their Test debuts on the same day
Along with Virat Kohli, Tamil Nadu-based left-handed opener Abhinav Mukund started his Test career on June 20, 2011. Mukund scored more runs than Kohli on his Test debut, but the left-handed batter could only feature in six more Tests in his career.
Mukund aggregated 320 runs in seven Test matches at an average of 22.86. He registered two half-centuries but could not convert either into a century.
The 33-year-old played his last Test match against Sri Lanka back in July 2017. Incidentally, it was under Virat Kohli's captaincy. An interesting fact about Mukund's Test career is that he recorded his highest score of 81 in his last innings against Sri Lanka but never played a Test match after that.
#2 Praveen Kumar also made his Test debut with Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli
Former Indian fast bowler Praveen Kumar also received his Test cap on the same day as Kohli and Mukund in 2011 at Sabina Park. Kumar bagged six wickets in his debut match, but played the final last Test match of his career in August 2011.
Kumar played a total of six Tests, scalping 27 wickets and scoring 149 runs. Injury issues impacted him a lot as the right-arm pacer wasn't able to break into the Test squad again.
#3. Varun Aaron
Varun Aaron also made his Test debut against West Indies in 2011, but not on June 20 at Sabina Park. He received his maiden Test cap at Wankhede Stadium on November 22.
Aaron bagged three wickets on his Test debut. He has played a total of nine Tests for India so far, picking up 18 wickets. His last Test appearance came under Virat Kohli's captaincy against South Africa in November 2015.
He bowled a spell of 1/51 in the first innings and has not played Test cricket after that game - the second of the four-match series. It seems unlikely that Aaron will be recalled to the Indian Test team.