India's ODI XI in Virat Kohli's debut match: Where are they now?
From captaining the India Under-19s to lift the 2008 Under-19 World Cup trophy to being one of the most talismanic skippers of the senior national team, Virat Kohli has come a long way.
The 30-year-old has found paramount success in all three formats of the game. It is tough to believe that the once-brash Delhi boy has achieved so much and been at the helm for so long. His stats will tell the story. 6613 runs in 77 Test matches at an average of 53.76; 10232 runs in 216 ODI matches with an average of 59.84; 2167 runs in 65 T20 Internationals with an average of 49.25. Captain fantastic just does not seem to stop.
Kohli is currently ranked number 1 in both Tests and ODIs as per ICC. In addition to breaking one record after another in ODIs, the Delhi-born player is also one of India's most successful captain ever.
It has been over 10 years since Chiku made his ODI debut. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on August 18, 2008. The Men in Blue went on to lose the match. India could manage a paltry total of 146 and Sri Lanka chased it down in just 34.5 overs, winning the match by 8 wickets. It was not the most memorable debut for Kohli and he could just score 12 runs in 22 balls. Kulasekara had got the future Indian great out by lbw.
However, it will be interesting to see where the rest of the players in the ODI XI during Kohli's debut are now. There are only 2 players besides the man himself who are still a part of the current Indian national team.
Here are the 10 players who were part of the playing 11 besides Kohli in the match against Sri Lanka:
#1 Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir opened India's innings along with Virat Kohli on the latter's debut day. The left-handed batsman had a glorious career and played some memorable knocks for the Men in Blue.
The 37-year-old announced his retirement in December 2018. Gambhir is most remembered for some magnificent partnerships he made with Virender Sehwag, who was also his Delhi mate.
The years between 2007 and 2011 were his most successful and despite making regular comebacks in the team, Gauti could not establish himself again in the national side.
Delhi Capitals (formerly known as Delhi Daredevils) released Gambhir after his dismal outing in the 2018 edition wherein he could only manage 85 runs in 6 innings.
The Delhi-born player made 5238 runs in 147 ODI matches with an average of 39.68. It was probably the correct decision to retire from all forms of cricket.
Gambhir had a classy retirement as he scored a century in his last match - for Delhi against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy.
The former Indian opener is currently enjoying spending time with family. He was also included in the panel of experts during the IPL auctions for 2019 and it is likely that he will follow the route taken by many of his fellow retired teammates and contribute to cricket as an expert. Gauti is also likely to keep contributing to social causes.