India's playing XI from the last ODI where Virat Kohli opened: Where are they now?
Virat Kohli walked out to bat as an opener for Team India in the second ODI against Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. Regular opener Rohit Sharma suffered an injury while fielding in the first innings and was not fit to open the batting in the second innings.
As a result, Virat Kohli joined opener Shikhar Dhawan in the middle. India's opening partnership did not last long as Ebadot Hossain rattled Kohli's stumps on the penultimate delivery of the second over.
Kohli returned to the pavilion after scoring five runs. Fans should note that this was the first time in close to nine years that Kohli opened an ODI innings for India. The last time he played as an opener was in the 2014 ODI series against New Zealand.
On January 28, 2014, Kohli opened the batting with Rohit Sharma at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Here is India's playing XI from that match, and where those players are now.
Batters - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni (c and wk)
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened the innings for India at Seddon Park. The duo could only add five runs for the first wicket as Tim Southee dismissed Kohli on the second ball of the fifth over. Virat Kohli managed only two runs off 10 balls in that game.
Number three batter Ajinkya Rahane departed after scoring three runs. Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu had a partnership of 79 runs for the third wicket.
India scored 278/5 in their 50 overs. Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja recorded a fifty each for the visitors.
From that batting lineup, only Sharma and Kohli are currently playing for the Indian team. Rayudu and Rahane have been dropped, while Dhoni has retired. Dhoni, however, still plays in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings.
All-rounders - Stuart Binny, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 54-ball 62 in that game. Stuart Binny did not get a chance to bat and bowled only one over. Ravichandran Ashwin scored five runs and bowled a spell of 0/41 in 10 overs.
Jadeja and Ashwin actively represent India in red-ball and white-ball cricket. Binny is now retired and only plays in different T20 leagues around the world.
Bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Varun Aaron
India played with three specialist fast bowlers in that ODI. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami shared the new ball, while Varun Aaron was the third pacer. None of the three pacers could do their job to perfection as they conceded a total of 174 runs in 24.1 overs, scalping two wickets.
Shami and Kumar recently represented the Indian team at the T20 World Cup. Kumar only plays T20I cricket for India, while Shami is a part of the Indian squad in all three formats.
Aaron has lost his place in the Indian team across all three formats. He was a part of the Gujarat Titans earlier this year and went on to lift the IPL 2022 trophy with the franchise.