He Scored A 100, When I Asked Him To Open The Innings - Dilip Vengsarkar Reveals When Virat Kohli Was Ready For India

From a young 19-year-old boy, who led India to a stunning victory in the Under-19 World Cup, Virat Kohli is now one of the best Indian cricketers of all time. He broke several batting records and scored the second most centuries (71) in international cricket.

Virat Kohli showed promise from a young age and made his ODI debut in 2008. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was the selectors’ chairman at the time, and he explained why he chose a young Kohli for the senior India team.

I Admired Him After He Scored A 100 – Dilip Vengsarkar

When Kohli made his India debut under Dhoni, the then chairman of selection Vengsarkar spotted the young player making waves in the domestic and India A circuits. Vengsarkar, who had been tracking Virat Kohli since his younger days, has revealed an explosive story of Virat’s match-winning century against New Zealand A in 2008.

“It is the vision of selectors. It’s not that he scored a 100, but what I admired about him that when I asked him to open the innings, he said ‘Ok, I will open the innings.

“India were chasing some 270 runs in New Zealand and they had some international fast bowlers, a good attack. And we had picked a good emerging players’ team.

“They were all Under-23 and we wanted to pick out of those players… who would play for India later,” Vengsarkar told former India cricketer WV Raman on the latter’s YouTube channel.

Kohli’s innings was a lot more than the century that convinced Vengsarkar that Virat could now be tried at the international level. Kohli made his ODI debut in August, when India travelled to Sri Lanka for an ODI series. Kohli scored a brilliant half-century in only his fourth game and finished the series with 159 runs from five matches at an average of 31.80. It was just the beginning of what would prove to be an exceptional international career.

“Virat played so brilliantly. After scoring a 100, he made sure that India won the match. He scored 123 not out. That is when I realised that he had matured. And I had been watching him since his Under-16 days. Then Under-19 and then India.

“So, I knew that this guy was ready and he needs to be picked. We were about to go to Sri Lanka to play the One-Day series. It was the ideal opportunity to pick this youngster and groom him.”

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