This day, that year: Virat Kohli returns to Dambulla, from where his journey began in 2008

New Delhi: Exactly nine years ago, on this day, Indian skipper had started his journey in One-Day International cricket and now he has come a full circle back to Dambulla, the place where it had all begun.

The year was 2008. Team India was gearing up for a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. The Islanders had already thumped down the tourists in the Test series with a 2-1 victory, and it was time for a redemption for the Indians. The limited-overs squad was announced and surprisingly, Virat Kohli found his name on the 15-member list. "Surprise call-up" was what it was termed as, but those who were aware of his talent then, might have seen it coming.

The Delhi-based lad had successfully led the nation's under-19 team to the World Cup triumph, where Virat himself had amassed 235 runs at an average of 42.16. However, he failed to emulate the same when he was roped in by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But Virat picked himself up and grabbed his spot in the senior national squad with fabulous piece of batting at the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia. He finished as India's second-highest run-getter and since then, there is no stopping to Kohli's rise in ODI cricket.

The day was August 18. Kohli stepped in alongside Gautam Gambhir to open India's innings after MS Dhoni had elected to bat first. He scored just 12 runs from 22 deliveries as India were shot out for mere 146 runs. With still 15 overs to go, the Lankans chased down the target, winning the match by eight wickets. It wasn't the best of the tournament, a rather topsy-turvy for the then 19-year-old, with his highlight being 66 ball-54 in the fourth match.

It has been a long journey since then. He has indeed grown bigger, way better and has become one the best batsmen. He has played 188 more matches, scored 8242 more runs, smashed 43 fifties and 28 centuries in the 50-over format. Only two batsman, Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Aussie legend Ricky Ponting (30) has more centuries than him.

He had notched up his 28th ODI ton during India's tour of West Indies and ergo surpassed his idol Sachin to become the batsman with highest number of centuries while chasing. Virat has 18 such knocks under his name which he amassed in mere 102 innings in comparison to Sachin's 232. The 28-year-old is also one ahead of the Master Blaster (8) in terms of the number of times a batsman remained unbeaten during chases while scoring a ton.

Kohli also seems to like playing against the Islanders. 22.4 per cent (1856) of his total career ODI runs have been smashed while playing against Sri Lanka in 41 matches, including six tons.

Not just ODIs, Virat has managed to top the charts in every format of the game. Earlier this year, he became the first batsman ever to score four consecutive double hundreds in Test series. It, indeed, is one record which will take some time to recreate. In T20Is, the top-order batsman had scored a record-breaking 973 runs in the ninth season of the IPL.

Apart from this, he is now breaking captaincy records. The Kohli-led Team India has already won eight successive Test series, one short of Ponting's nine. And he now stands second on the list of Indian skippers with most overseas Test victories, four behind Sourav Ganguly's 11.