Senior Teammate Recalls Virat Kohli’s ‘Cocky’ Confidence During His Debut: ‘He Commanded the Dressing Room’

5 months ago | 5 Views

Irfan Pathan, a former Indian all-rounder, reminisced about his initial encounter with Virat Kohli when he entered the locker room for his first series. Having guided the Under-19 team to a World Cup victory in 2008, Kohli joined the Indian team with great expectations. He started his international career with an ODI debut on the Sri Lanka tour, and over time, he established himself as one of the best white-ball batsmen the game has ever produced.

Pathan, a crucial member of the team throughout Kohli's debut series, recalled the young Delhi batter's arrival in the locker room, emphasizing how the player exuded assurance from the beginning.

As captain, he led his team to victory in the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. With assurance and arrogance, he entered the changing room. In Sri Lanka, I saw him up close. He dominated the locker room, and I never felt like he was a young man, Pathan said in a video on his YouTube account.

But he had a terrible beginning to his adventure in the lucrative IPL. He was unable to reach 400 runs in any of his first three IPL seasons, but the 2012 tournament was a turning point as he exceeded 500 runs for the first time. He went on to become the tournament's all-time leading scorer from that point forward.

‘From that moment on, Kohlli's career took off...’

Pathan also discussed the RCB superstar's IPL experience and how his career reached its pinnacle in the 2012 tournament.

"However, he scored about 150 runs when his IPL adventure started in 2008. It wasn't anything exceptional, but before that, during the 2011 season, he scored over 500 runs for RCB for the first time in his IPL career. The entire cycle of his youth will come to an end in 2012. Pathan stated on his YouTube account that his career reached its pinnacle at that point.

After playing 123 tests for India, Kohli declared his retirement from the longest format last month. He scored 9,230 runs with an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries.

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