Indian skipper Virat Kohli was one of the U-19 cricketers to bag an IPL contract after his title victory in the youth World Cup. Kohli joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the inaugural season of the tournament back in 2008.

Even after getting into the IPL, the right-handed batsman didn’t have a great season as he could only muster 165 runs in 13 matches. But the current highest run-scorer in IPL, Kohli took his time to establish himself in IPL and his career graph in the T20 league went up from 2011.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal who was also a part of IPL 2008, recalled the season and talked about how surprised he was to see a young Kohli in the thick of things.

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“I had played the first edition of the IPL. At that time, I was so surprised when I saw Virat Kohli. I used to wonder what cricket he would play at such a young age. But he has changed himself totally now, and he has become a role model for youngsters,” the Pakistani cricketer said in a YouTube video.

Akmal was a part of Shane Warne-led IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals that won the inaugural IPL title in 2008. Akmal hasn't played an IPL fixture since then.

As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, even after a sub-par performances in first three editions of the IPL, the Bangalore-based franchise backed the Delhi-based batsman and he is the only player in the history of the league to play for just one franchise. Kohli is also the face of RCB, Indian cricket and leads the national side across all formats.

The next assignment for the Virat Kohli led Team India is to take on England in a five-match Test series slated to begin from 4 August.