Back in 2008, Australia hosted an Emerging Players tournament, which saw strange things happen.
The Emerging Players Tournament was a competition hosted and organised by Cricket Australia, that started in 2005 and ran till 2011. Usually comprising of teams full of youngsters from India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, the tournament was a hit during its time.
In the 2008 edition, it featured emerging teams from India, South Africa, New Zealand, and an Australian team representing the Australian Institute of Sports.
Varun Aaron played for Australia
Each of the four teams had several youngsters at that time who would go on to have decorated international careers. “Australia” had, among others, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Wade, and Steve O'Keefe.
However, alongwith Australian superstars of the future, the Australian squad also had two Indian players: 18-year-old fast bowler Varun Aaron and 19-year-old all-rounder Shrikant Wagh. Aaron played seven matches to take eight wickets at 32.37, while Wagh played six games and took six wickets at 36.67.
While Aaron went on to have a shot-lived India career, playing nine Tests and nine ODIs, Wagh was less fortunate as the closest he came to the national side was stints with India A.
When Warner dismissed Kohli
The fourth match of the tournament saw the Indian Emerging Squad take on Australian Institute of Sports. The hosts batted first after winning the toss. Opening the batting, Warner made 25, while Wade top-scored with 115 at No.6 to take his team to 269-7 in 48 overs.
In response, Shikhar Dhawan, opening the batting for the Indian team, made 75, while captain S Badrinath made 83 from No.3. Abhishek Nayar (41) and Manoj Tiwary (24) also made crucial contributions from four and five. The fall of Tiwary's wicket at 243 brought Virat Kohli to the crease at No.6.
Kohli made only a solitary run in the 24-run stand with Badrinath before Warner had him caught by Peter Forrest. It wasn't even Warner's first wicket of the match: he had already dismissed Tiwary earlier in the game. Despite the two wickets, Warner was treated harshly by the Indian batters as he finished with figures of 45-2 from 3.2 overs as India finished off the chase in 40.2 overs with five wickets in hand.
Warner was surprisingly regular with the ball in the tournament, as evidenced by the 34.4 overs he bowled across six innings, taking six wickets at 42.33. He was also the leading run-scorer, with 381 runs at 76.20, including one hundred and two fifities in eight innings.
Kohli had a decent tournament with the bat as well, scoring 206 runs in six outings, including 120 not out against the New Zealand Emerging squad. Neither Kohli nor Warner had made their international debuts at that point; once they did, they never bowled to each other over 15 overlapping years.
New Zealand eventually won the competition, beating Australian Institute of Sports by three wickets in the final.
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