IPL report card of Virat Kohli's 2008 U-19 World Cup winning squad
T20 cricket has brought about a serious change in the way cricket is played and looked at. With the influx of T20 matches, attention to fitness, running between the wickets and exceptional fielding skills have attained paramount significance.
The Indian Premier League, considered to be the ideal platform for youngsters to showcase their talent while rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, has given many budding Indian cricketers the opportunity of being a part of world class cricket.
At the time of its inception in 2008, IPL was still a mystery as to how much of a success it will turn out to be, but a decade into its existence, all such doubts have been put to rest. At the very same time of the IPL's birth, Virat Kohli led a bunch of youngsters to the title of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia, thus bringing them into prominence.
The IPL further heaped adulation over them by handing these teenagers with lucrative contracts. Let us have a look at the journey of the members of that squad and where they are now in the league.
Note: Two members of that squad, Perry Goyal and Duvvarapu Siva Kumar never got to be a part of any IPL team. Ajitesh Argal who went to Kings XI Punjab and Napoleon Einstein who was bought by CSK never played an IPL match.
Virat Kohli - 8/10
The skipper of the World Cup winning squad needs no introduction. Saying that the Delhi dasher has taken giant strides not just in the IPL but in world cricket will merely be an understatement. The stature that King Kohli has alleviated himself to as a result of his impeccable batting and inspirational leadership qualities, it will not be wrong to label him as a legend of the game already.
Picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore through the draft system for the inaugural edition, Kohli has ever since been with the franchise and in the process become the only one to do so in the history of the league.
Sitting second on the charts for the highest run-getter of the IPL with 4667 runs and winning the Orange Cap after scoring an incredible 973 runs in 2016 including four centuries, Kohli's salary increase from a mere $30,000 in 2008 to a record $25,00,000 in 2018 shall not come as a surprise.
The only thing with respect to the IPL that Kohli desperately must be craving for is the addition of the championship feather in his already glittering cap.
Also Read: 5 crucial losses that proved turning points in Virat Kohli's career
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