Irfan Pathan recalls first impressions of Virat Kohli, says he came into the dressing room with confidence and cockiness

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan recalled that Virat Kohli came into the dressing room with confidence and cockiness back in 2008. Kohli had led India’s Under-19 team to glory in the World Cup and he always asked the right questions as a youngster.

Kohli also had the hunger to succeed at the top level and worked hard on his game to rise through the ranks. The Delhi cricketer made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008 in Dambulla but was dismissed after scoring only 12 runs while opening the innings.

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “He won the Under-19 World Cup as a captain in 2008. He came into the dressing room with confidence and cockiness. I saw him very closely in Sri Lanka. He owned the dressing room and it did not feel like he was a youngster. But when his IPL journey began in 2008, he got around 150 runs.”

Pathan recalled how Kohli scored more than 500 runs in IPL 2011 and didn’t look back from there.

“It was not that special, but by the time the whole cycle of his youth ends in 2012, before that came in the 2011 season where he scored more than 500 runs for RCB for the first time in his IPL career. The peak of his career started from there,” Pathan said.

Meanwhile, the former Baroda cricketer lauded Virat Kohli’s consistency in the white ball formats despite his dipping numbers in Test cricket in the last five years. Kohli announced his Test retirement on May 12 as he was averaging 30.72 since 2020.

“The one thing that happened between 2020 and 2024 was that he saw a dip in form in Test cricket. I have myself been his biggest critic in Test cricket, but in white-ball cricket, he never stopped scoring runs. He was always achieving newer feats, even as an experienced player.”

“Everyone remembers the 2023 ODI World Cup. He went past Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most number of ODI hundreds. He won the T20 World Cup in 2024, the Champions Trophy went into his cupboard.There was one trophy missing from his experience. That was the IPL trophy for RCB,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

Kohli recently won his maiden IPL title with RCB, bringing an end to 18-year long wait.