Won the U-19 World Cup with Kohli, now makes his India debut under him after 10 years

It took 10 years for Siddharth Kaul to make it to the Indian side after winning the U-19 World Cup under Virat Kohli, who made his India debut in 2008, three months after leading the colts to glory.

Siddharth Kaul’s back of the hand slower delivery knocks down South African wicket-keeper Brad Barnes’ off stump. An elated, slightly chubby looking Virat Kohli uproots a stump and runs towards the square-leg area. Kaul goes in the opposite direction. The Indian dressing room comes running in with the tri-colour, they have won their 2^nd U-19 World Cup.

More than 10 years have gone by since that fateful day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In between all these years, Virat Kohli has chased Sachin Tendulkar’s records like nobody else ever did, have broken a few too and also became the captain of the Indian team. Kaul, like that day, went in the opposite direction, except for June 29, 2018, when he again got the opportunity to play under Kohli, this time for the senior Indian side.

It took 10 years for Siddharth Kaul to make it to the Indian side after winning the U-19 World Cup under Virat Kohli, who made his India debut in 2008, three months after leading the colts to glory.

Kaul was handed his T20I cap by MS Dhoni ahead of the 2^nd T20I at Malahide after he had a terrific season of IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Kaul’s was one of the four changes that India made to check their bench strength ahead of the England tour but for Kaul, it was more than just an opportunity to show his might. It was the commencement of a journey that started more than 10 years ago.

It was the IPL that turned Kaul’s fortunes, who was slogging it out in the domestic circuit for almost eight years since leading India’s attack in the U-19 World Cup in 2008. Kaul, turning up for Sunrisers Hyderabad, made a name for himself in the star-studded bowling line-up comprising the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan in IPL 2017.

 

The Punjab pacer followed that up with a terrific season in the domestic circuit and earned his place in the India A side for the South Africa tour. Impressive performance in South Africa, got Kaul straight into the Indian ODI side for Sri Lanka tour in 2017 but a debut was still awaited. He came back empty handed even from the Nidahas Trophy earlier this year but that did not dampen Kaul’s spirit.

The right-arm medium pacer produced an even stronger performance in the next IPL, emerging as the joint highest wicket-taker for the Sunrisers Hyderabad along with the Afghan sensation Rashid Khan, picking up 21 wickets in 17 matches. That made it impossible for the selectors to ignore him for the subsequent Ireland and England tour.

On Friday though, life came a full circle for Kaul, who is again playing under Virat Kohli, starting a new and much more difficult chapter in his life. He had picked up two crucial wickets in the final of the U-19 World Cup. How many will he pick in his T20I debut?