Virat Kohli's 'unique' ability in 2008 disclosed by then chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar

Former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar was the chief selector of the national side when Virat Kohli made his international debut in 2008. Vengsarkar was recently involved in a live chat with Sportskeeda where he revealed what prompted him to induct Virat Kohli into the Indian team at the time. While the current Indian captain made his debut in 2008 as an aggressive youngster, the cricketer is now widely tipped as Sachin Tendulkar’s “successor” by many fans and cricket experts.

Also Read | MS Dhoni, N Srinivasan Didn't Approve Of Virat Kohli's Selection In 2008: Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Vengsarkar recalls the impressive quality of young Virat Kohli

In the live chat, Dilip Vengsarkar stated that he was highly impressed by Virat Kohli’s performance in the four-nation Emerging Players Tournament in Australia in 2008. Throughout the event, the then prodigious talent scored 206 runs in six matches at an average of 41.20. Dilip Vengsarkar talked about the match against New Zealand Emerging Players where the Black Caps scored 248-6 in their 50 overs while batting first. Virat Kohli, who was asked to open the innings in the match, anchored a successful Indian run-chase and remained unbeaten on 120*.

Describing Virat Kohli’s match-winning effort, Dilip Vengsarkar said that he appreciated how the batsman stayed till the end and remained not out even after scoring a hundred. He revealed that at the time, he thought this talented youngster must be drafted into the Indian team because he was “mentally mature”. Dilip Vengsarkar also said that the selection committee had already decided to pick “fringe” players from the tournament, which is why they went with Virat Kohli.

Also Read | Virat Kohli Laughs At Shikhar Dhawan's Absent-mindedness Courtesy Funny New Year's Story

Interestingly, the tournament also featured Virat Kohli’s future teammate Shikhar Dhawan, who made his international debut in 2010. Moreover, both Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan opened the innings together in the match against New Zealand Emerging Players, where the latter scored a well-paced 55 at the top.

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli in RCB

Earlier that same year, Virat Kohli made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut through Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The cricketer was appointed as the captain of the franchise in 2013. Apart from being considered as one of the best batsmen in world cricket at the moment, Virat Kohli is also the leading run-scorer in the history of IPL with 5,412 runs in 169 innings.

Also Read | Shikhar Dhawan Reveals Why He And Rohit Sharma Get Along Well Both On And Off The Field

Also Read | Shikhar Dhawan Picks MS Dhoni Over Virat Kohli As Best Indian Captain He Has Played Under