Top Indian batsmen who failed on their ODI debuts

Rahul Dravid (3 vs Sri Lanka, April 1996) | ‘The Wall’ of Indian cricket didn’t have the most solid of starts as he was caught behind off a Muttiah Muralitharan delivery after scoring just 3 runs. India scored 199 in that game which they won by 12 runs. Dravid would go on to forge a remarkable ODI career scoring 10,889 runs which included 12 hundreds and 83 fifties. His reassuring presence in the middle order earned him the nicknames of ‘Mr. Dependable’ and ‘The Wall’. (Image: Reuters)

Gautam Gambhir (11 vs Bangladesh, April 2003) | Gambhir opened the innings on debut but could manage just 11 runs off 22 balls before returning to the dugout against a relatively weak Bangladesh. India ended up scoring 276 runs in that game and won the match by 200 runs after bowling out the Tigers for just 76 runs. Gambhir carved out an impressive ODI career for himself following his debut and will always be remembered for his match-winning 97-run knock in the 2011 World Cup Final. (Image: Reuters)

Virat Kohli (12 vs Sri Lanka, August 2008) | The ‘Run Machine’ as Kohli is now called didn’t see his senior career get off to a great start, scoring just 12 off 22 balls against Sri Lanka in August 2008 before getting trapped LBW. India managed just 146 runs in that game which Sri Lanka chased down comfortably with 8 wickets remaining. Since then the current Indian captain has gone on to score runs at an alarming rate, even breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record by becoming the fastest to score 10,000 ODI runs. (Image: AP)

MS Dhoni (0 vs Bangladesh, December 2004) | India’s World Cup winning captain couldn’t get off the mark on his debut as he was run out by Khaled Mashud and Tapash Baisya after facing just 1 delivery. India however went on to win the match and Dhoni would go on to become an indispensable member of the squad. He led the team to their World Cup triumph in 2011, scoring an unbeaten 91 in the Final and sealing the game with a trademark six. (Image: Reuters)

Sachin Tendulkar (0 vs Pakistan, December 1989) | Tendulkar was just a baby-faced 16-year-old when he made his ODI debut against India’s arch-rivals Pakistan. He was dismissed for a second-ball duck by Waqar Younis when he scooped the ball straight to Wasim Akram. The Indian legend retired from International cricket 23 years later holding the records for maximum ODI appearances, runs, centuries, half-centuries and many other distinctions. (Image: Reuters)

Virender Sehwag (1 vs Pakistan, April 1999) | Sehwag was trapped LBW by the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ Shoaib Akhtar off just the second delivery on debut. Sehwag managed just 1 run before becoming Akhtar’s third scalp of the game. India were bowled out for 196 in that game which Pakistan won by 7 wickets. Sehwag later went on to become one of the most feared opening batsmen in the world with his fast-scoring style. He ended his career with 8273 runs from 245 ODI innings. (Image: Reuters)

Saurav Ganguly (3 vs West Indies, January 1992) | Ganguly was trapped LBW by Anderson Cummins after scoring just 3 runs on his debut at Brisbane. It was a baptism by fire as apart from Tendulkar (77) all the other batsmen failed with India bundled out for 191. The West Indies won that match by 6 wickets. Ganguly was dropped from the side and returned to the fold only in 1996. He would later go on to forge one of the most formidable opening partnerships in ODI history with none other than the great Sachin Tendulkar. (Image: Reuters)