3 Indian players who made their T20I debut in the same year as Virat Kohli but faded away soon after

Virat Kohli played his maiden T20I match for India on June 12, 2010. He played an important knock of 26 runs in a run-chase against Zimbabwe on his debut and stitched up a match-winning partnership with Yusuf Pathan to help India win by six wickets after being down to 48/4 while chasing 112.

Thirteen years have passed since then, and Virat Kohli continues to be a match-winner for India in the shortest format of the game. He has played 115 T20Is for India, aggregating 4,008 runs at a strike rate of 137.96.

Kohli has witnessed many ups and downs in his T20I career, but whenever Team India needed him the most, he stepped up and delivered the goods. His half-centuries against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2016 and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 are among the greatest knocks played in T20I history.

While Virat Kohli has become one of the biggest names in the T20I world, three other Indian players who also made their debuts in 2010 could not make it big like him. Here's a list of three players who debuted with Kohli in T20Is but disappeared soon after.

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#1 Naman Ojha made his T20I debut in the same match as Virat Kohli

Not many fans would know that two other Indians made their T20I debut along with Virat Kohli in the match against Zimbabwe on June 12, 2010. One of them was off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has represented India in multiple T20 World Cups. The other was wicket-keeper Naman Ojha.

Naman opened the batting for India in his debut T20I game. He could not impress much as he lost his wicket to Chris Mpofu while batting on two. Ojha received one more chance to prove himself in the same series, but managed only 10 runs in that match.

The selectors dropped Ojha from the T20I team after that series. He never played another T20I match for the Indian team.

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#2 Vinay Kumar was the highest wicket-taker in Virat Kohli's debut T20I

Fast bowler Vinay Kumar received his maiden T20I cap in a crucial T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka in 2010. He had a forgettable debut as he gave away 17 runs in the 19th over when the Islanders needed 30 runs off the last two overs.

Kumar made a splendid comeback in the next series against Zimbabwe and bagged three wickets in the first T20I. He could not maintain his consistency though, and managed only two wickets in his next seven T20I appearances for India.

The pace bowler impressed fans again by bowling a spell of 3/26 in a one-off T20I against Australia in 2013. However, since Vinay Kumar leaked 102 runs in the final match of the subsequent ODI series against Australia, he was dropped from India's T20I and ODI teams.

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#3 Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla also made his T20I debut at the T20 World Cup 2010. He played seven matches in his career, including two each at the T20 World Cup 2010 and T20 World Cup 2010.

The leg-spinner accounted for four wickets in those seven games. The selectors picked him for the T20I series against England in December 2012. Chawla returned wicketless in both games and is yet to receive another chance to play for India.