'I hit 2 triple tons but there was no social media to glorify it': Kohli's ex-India teammate says his 'stats got hidden'

Virat Kohli has been teammates with several cricketers over the years who did not go on to achieve unprecedented success like him, and one of them speaks about how his stats did not gain prominence due to lack of social media back in the day.

Former India captain Virat Kohli has been teammates with several cricketers over the years who did not go on to achieve unprecedented success like him. Kohli was just 19 when he led India to an Under19 World Cup triumph in Kuala Lumpur, and with him, plenty of other cricketers from that batch went on to achieve greatness. Ravindra Jadeja, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson Steve Smith are some names that come to mind. (

Virat Kohli's young Indian team celebrate the 2008 Under-19 World Cup win (R).   (Getty Images)

While Kohli and Jadeja rose to superstardom status, the likes of Manish Pandey, Siddarth Kaul, Saurabh Tiwary and Pradeep Sangwan fell behind in the pecking order. Although Pandey, Kaul and Tiwary ended up earning a national call-up and even represented India, the rest of the lot couldn't achieve that distinction. One of them is Taruvar Kohli, India's opening batter from the 2008 Under19 World Cup, a man whom people usually refer to as the 'other' Kohli.

While an India call-up eluded him, Taruvar went on to prove himself in the domestic circuit. In fact, in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he scored twin centuries – 151 and 101 not out – against Bihar and followed it with another superlative knock of 151 not out against Nagaland. Taruvar spoke about the manner in which cricket has changed since he was Kohli’s teammate and how due to lack of outside factors which play a huge role in a player's popularity, his stats could not gain prominence.

"I have scored two triple centuries – one for Punjab and the other for Mizoram – but since there was no social media back them, they didn’t get glorified and the stats got hidden. But cricket has changed a lot. When we were playing the World Cup (Under-19 in 2008), we used to play a few more dot balls. But the way it has changed today is like if you even play three dot balls, the management also doubts you," Kohli told SportsYaari.

"That time, cricket wasn't that pacey. 300 weren't common. In fact, 230 used to be considered a good score. Once the IPL came in, the game took up speed. The players that have emerged are attacking that there is no other option. The game has changed and we all have evolved as well."

Kohli has lived his career mostly being compared with Virat. And in today’s day and age, where drawing parallels have become an obsession, one can’t really blame him. Having said that, Taruvar has set his ideas straight and understands that Kohli went on to became a different kettle of fish altogether.

"We all are running out individual races. Comparisons would always be there since I was Virat’s teammate. But I have this habit of where I look at myself in the mirror and not compare myself with others. The way Virat has taken his game to the next level, credit belongs to him. I wish he scored a lot of runs and end the wait for his century which people so badly want to see," he said.