How MS Dhoni And Virender Sehwag Saved Virat Kohli's Test Career When Selectors Wanted To Play Rohit Sharma

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Virat Kohli, a former captain and one of the greatest cricketers to represent India, continues to thrive in international cricket. Kohli began his career at the age of 19 in 2008 and gradually established himself in the limited-overs formats. It took him less than a year to secure a regular spot in the Test team by the 2011 World Cup. However, his initial year was challenging as he faced exclusion from the Test squad and had to spend time on the bench. He eventually made his comeback just before India's forgettable tour of Australia in 2011/12.

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Following a 4-0 defeat against England, India suffered another humiliating loss against Australia, resulting in a series of whitewash. During that period, Indian batsmen struggled, losing their touch and making the team one of the weakest in Test cricket.

Like other batsmen, Kohli also faced difficulties in Australia and scored low in the first two Tests with 11, 0, 23, and 9. With unfavourable results, the selectors contemplated changing the playing XI and considered replacing Kohli with Rohit Sharma.

Rohit was initially scheduled to make his Test debut in 2010 but an injury delayed his entry. Although he seemed set to play in the Perth Test, MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag supported Kohli instead. Sehwag, who served as Dhoni's deputy at that time, shared an interesting anecdote during the India-England Test series in 2016. He captained India in the Adelaide Test, where Kohli scored a century.

"In 2012, the selectors wanted to play Rohit Sharma instead of Kohli at Perth. As the vice-captain, I and Dhoni decided to back Kohli. The rest is history," Sehwag revealed.

Kohli performed well on a challenging Perth pitch, scoring 44 and 75, followed by a century in Adelaide. The decision to support Kohli proved fruitful, and he has never looked back since then. Interestingly, Kohli took over the captaincy in Dhoni's absence during the first Test of the 2014/15 Australia tour.

Dhoni announced his retirement after the third Test, and Kohli assumed the full-time captaincy, leading India in the fourth Test. By the time Kohli relinquished the captaincy, he had become India's most successful Test captain, securing 40 wins in 68 matches.