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This article was first published 10 years ago

A peculiar captaincy debut for Virat Kohli

July 03, 2013 15:48 IST

Image: Virat Kohli
Photographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Virat Kohli finally led India in a One-Day International -- the third match of Tri-Nation Series -- as MS Dhoni was ruled out of the tournament after hurting his hamstring during India’s first game against the West Indies.

Kohli is the 22nd player to captain India in a One-day International.

At 24 years 239 days he is the fifth youngest to lead India in an ODI, says statistician Rajneesh Gupta.

Youngest ODI captains for India

Age

Player

Vs

Venue

Year

Result

23 Y 126 D

SR Tendulkar

Sri Lanka

Colombo

1996

Lost

23 Y 182 D

SK Raina

Zimbabwe

Bulawayo

2010

Lost

23 Y 249 D

Kapil Dev

Sri Lanka

Amritsar

1982

Won

24 Y 178 D

V Sehwag

Bangladesh

Dhaka

2003

Won

24 Y 239 D

V Kohli

Sri Lanka

Kingston

2013

Lost

A peculiar captaincy debut for Virat Kohli

Image: Virat Kohli
Photographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Kohli had to wait for 104 ODIs before finally getting a chance to lead India.

Here is the list of Indians who led the country for the first time after playing 100 games.

Players captaining India for the first time after playing 100 ODIs

Player

Matches

A Kumble

217

R Dravid

138

A Jadeja

129

SR Tendulkar

119

K Srikkanth

111

SC Ganguly

111

V Kohli

104

G Gambhir

100

A peculiar captaincy debut for Virat Kohli

Image: Virat Kohli
Photographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The captaincy debut, however, became an entirely forgettable experience for Kohli as Sri Lanka handed India a huge defeat by 161 runs.

Among Indians, S Venkataraghavan suffered a bigger defeat on ODI captaincy debut.

Indians suffering a huge defeat on ODI captaincy debut

Margin

Captain

Opponents

Venue

Year

202 runs

S Venkataraghavan

England

Lord's

1975

161 runs

V Kohli

Sri Lanka

Kingston

2013

108 runs

M Azharuddin

New Zealand

Dunedin

1990

  57 runs

GR Viswanath

New Zealand

Hamilton

1981