It was on this day, August 18 in 2008, when Virat Kohli made his India debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. His call-up to senior team came after he led the India U19 team to the Youth World Cup that year in Malaysia.
Kohli was regarded as a prodigy right from his Delhi cricket days, but could only manage 12 runs on his debut, in which he opened the innings for India. He made his Test debut in 2011 against West Indies and his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in 2010.
From then till now, Kohli has become a legend of modern era game with a plethora of records to his name.
Kohli boasts of an amazing record for India as in 111 Tests, he has 8676 runs with 29 centuries and a best of 254* at an average of 49.29. In 275 ODIs, Kohli has 12898 runs at an average of 57.32 with 46 centuries and best of 183*.
He has excelled in T20Is as well, scoring 4008 runs in 115 games at an average of 52.73 and a best score of 122*.
The Delhi batter was earmarked for captaincy and was handed the Test baton in 2014 on a tour of Australia when MS Dhoni called time in his career. He took over as captain in all formats in 2017.
Virat Kohli was part of India's 2011 World Cup win and 2013 Champions Trophy victory as well.
As he completed his 15 years in international cricket, Virat Kohli took to his X account (formerly Twitter) and posted a message.
Reacting to Kohli completing 15 years in international cricket, Mohammed Siraj shared a heartfelt message for his former India and RCB captain.
He posted: “A champion cricketer who never backs down. 15 years since your debut. @imVkohli bhaiya”
Not only Siraj, but R Ashwin also posted and asked Kohli to double it up.
