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#OTD in 2008: Virat Kohli set his foot on the international stage 


image-l6ypadfaVirat Kohli on his debut against Sri Lanka 


On this day 14 years ago, Virat Kohli made his international debut in an ODI fixture against Sri Lanka at Dambulla. 

Earlier in the same year, Kohli led India U-19 to victory in the U19 World Cup and featured for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. 


Sri Lankan spinners rattle Indian batting line-up

image-l6yqb9w3Virat Kohli in action

The MS Dhoni-led side won the toss and opted to bat first, with the makeshift opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and debutant Virat Kohli. The regular openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were injured ahead of this series. 

On the second ball of the innings, Gambhir made his way back to the dugout. On the other hand, Kohli could only score 12 off 22 balls before Nuwan Kulasekara trapped him in a LBW. 

Yuvraj Singh displayed fine resistance to emerge as a top-scorer for India with 23 off 30 deliveries. The rest of the batting line-up fell like a pack of cards, resulting in India getting bundled out for 146. 

The spin duo of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan scalped three wickets apiece. 


Mahela Jayawardene top-scores to seal an easy chase

image-l6yqcsxcMunaf Patel was the only wicket-taker for India


In response, Sri Lanka could not get off to a good start to their innings. The right-arm pacer Munaf Patel sent openers Sanath Jayasuriya (10) and Kumar Sangakkara (19) packing. 

However, the pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera were proficient with their composure to steer the hosts to victory comfortably. 

Both added 102 runs for the third wicket and sealed the chase under 35 overs. Jayawardene remained unbeaten on 61, while Kapugedera scored 45*. 


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