Early Struggles: Sunil Joshi love for cricket saw him travel 65 kilometres every morning to Hubli for practice and return back to Gadag for school. A combination of talent and tireless perseverance saw him break into the strong Karnataka line-up that was already beaming with potential India and potential national stars.

Best ODI Figures: In 1999 during the LG Cup league match at Nairobi, the South African batsmen found it tough to negate Joshi’s spin web. He not only dismissed the Proteas stars Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock, but also gave away only six runs from his quota of 10 overs. His figures of 10-6-6-5 was at the time, the third most economical analysis by anyone completing his full quota of overs in ODIs.

Coaching Career: The left-arm spinner was the spin bowling coach of the Bangaldesh Cricket Team. The Karnataka stalwart, who was Bangladesh's spin consultant till the World Cup, had applied for the Indian team's bowling coach job but was not shortlisted. In December 2015, Joshi was named the spin bowling coach of Oman cricket team ahead of the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.

Played for Royal Challengers Bangalore: Not many may know Sunil Joshi was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore team in 2008 and 2009. Joshi was aged 37 then while Kohli was a teenager who had just led India to an Under-19 world title victory. The left-arm spinner had a nondescript IPL however as he played only four matches in the tournament in which he scored six runs and got a solitary wicket. He was also the spin bowling consultant for Kings X1 Punjab for 2020 season.

Bangladesh’s inaugural Test: Bangladesh marked its entry to Test cricket by playing a match against India at Dhaka. Joshi’s fifer had restricted Bangladesh to 400 and then it was the partnership with Sourav Ganguly and Joshi, which saved India from blushes as they managed a lead. Joshi, who scored 92, starred in India’s win and was the man-of-the-match. He picked up a total of eight wickets in the match. He last appeared for India in 2001 as India’s spin for the next many years to come was handled by the experienced Kumble and the immensely talented Harbhajan Singh.

Tags :Sunil JoshiVirat KohliRoyal Challengers Bangalore