18th August, 2008: Virat Kohli Makes India Debut Against Sri Lanka at Dambulla

12 years ago, on this day, a young Virat Kohli played his first game for Team India against Sri Lanka and Dambulla. And that was the start of the another golden era for Indian batting. His international debut though ended in a defeat as the home team consigned them to a eight-wicket loss.

It was a pathetic batting display by the Indian team and were bundled out for a mere 147 in 46 overs. Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan did the majority of the damage for Sri Lanka, picking six wickets between them.

Kohli was able to score only 12 runs before Nuwan Kulasekara trapped him leg before wicket.

In response, Sri Lanka got the required runs in 34.2 overs. They lost both openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara early on, but Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera strung together a 102-run partnership to end the match with minimal fuss.

Kohli's debut match wasn't the most memorable one for Indian fans but the current Indian captain has since enjoyed a stellar career for the Men in Blue across all formats.

The 31-year-old now has 31 tons to his name with 27 of those coming in Tests, while 43 have come in ODIs. To add to the list he has 104 half-centuries across formats now.

Although, in the last one year, Kohli has managed to score only two tons, he still has a fair amount of time with him, to catch up on Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international tons.

After the coronavirus outbreak, Kohli will finally be seen in action, in India colours, in December when the team takes on Australia.