Stats: Bowlers who dismissed Virat Kohli as their maiden wicket

Claiming Virat Kohli’s is always an achievement for the bowlers especially in the current situation where he puts out his best every time he walks out to bat. At the age of 29, Virat Kohli is on the verge of being called an all-time great already. His record, especially in the limited-overs, is a step ahead of the present generation players and at this rate, he can easily surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s records in the next 6-7 years. He stands as the only player in the history to average 50+ in all the three formats while other players are fighting out to average 50 in ODIs and 40 in T20Is.

Kohli set an example of leading from the front by aggregating over 850 runs in the ongoing tour of South Africa. Coming into this tour, Kohli had a mediocre record against the home team and no centuries in the ODI format in this part of the World. The Indian skipper settled all the equations and replied his critics with the bat by becoming the first player in ODI cricket to score 500 runs in a bilateral series and the first Indian to score three centuries in a bilateral ODI series.

In the first of the 3-match T20I series in Johannesburg, Kohli departed for only 26 off 20 balls as he was trapped in front by Tabraiz Shamsi. The South African chinaman spinner, who was playing in his 3rd T20I on his 28th birthday, bagged his maiden wicket in this format. He became only the 5th player to take his maiden T20I wicket by dismissing Kohli. The Indian skipper was the first two T20I wickets of England’s Stuart Meaker.

Bowlers who dismissed Virat Kohli as their maiden T20I wicket:

Kagiso Rabada was the first of the two players who dismissed Kohli as their maiden Test wicket. The South African pacer later went on to become the youngest No.1 bowler in Test rankings. Five players claimed Virat Kohli’s wicket in the ODI format to open their wickets tally. Sri Lanka’s Vishwa Fernando was the recent of those five players as the left-arm pacer took the Indian captain’s wicket in the last year’s home ODI series.

Bowlers who dismissed Virat Kohli as their maiden Test cricket:

Bowlers who dismissed Virat Kohli as their maiden ODI wicket:

(Stats as on February 18, 2018)