India’s only 2 all-format debutants under Virat Kohli
In a sensational turnaround, India’s most successful Test captain ever, Virat Kohli, decided to quit as a Test skipper after the defeat in the third and final Test against South Africa in Cape Town, eventually losing the series 2-1. Kohli finished his captaincy career after serving the nation for seven years in cricket’s longest and oldest format. The team reached new heights under the stewardship of Delhi-born Kohli as it remained on the number one position in the ICC test rankings for five consecutive years. In his tenure, Virat took the team from lowly-seventh place to number one spot as he wrote his name in the history books by becoming team India’s most triumphant skipper.
The Asian giants won 40 out of 68 matches which Virat captained as he is the fourth most successful leader in the history of Test cricket. Many young players made their debut under the leadership of Kohli and the ones who did in all the three formats are wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
Though he made his T20I debut in 2017, Rishabh Pant came into the limelight after a staggering Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2018 where he finished the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 684 runs in 14 games. Speaking of his T20I debut, Pant represented India for the first time against England in Bangalore in 2017 and became a regular member in the T20I set-up after the mentioned 2018 IPL season. The Delhi-born Pant wore the whites for the first time during India’s tour of England in 2018 where he got selected for the third Test in Nottingham. He made his debut Test tour memorable by smashing a ton in the fifth Test at The Oval in London. Later on, in the same year, he made his ODI debut against West Indies in Guwahati as now he has become one of the go-to wicketkeeper batters for India across formats.
Another player who made his debut in all three formats under Kohli is The Palghar express Shardul Thakur. Firstly, he played his first game for India in the 50-overs format when the team toured Sri Lanka in 2017. The all-rounder then made his debut in the shortest international format against South Africa in 2018 after which he got selected for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy as well which the team famously won. The pacer finally made his Test debut in the same year against West Indies in Hyderabad. With his wicket-taking abilities at regular intervals and smashing some crucial runs lower down the order with power hitting, Thakur has become one of the players who give the team a selection headache.
