From flip flops to Puma shoes: Virat Kohli tweets his transformation over the past 10 years

Virat Kohli made his international debut way back in 2008. Though he had won the U19 World Cup for India in the same year, he was in for a tough task, donning the national colours. Back then, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir dominated the Indian top order. It went without saying that Virat had to pull off something stupendous to cement his place.

But as time passed by, Virat kept weathering every storm. To start with, he found his feet in ODIs and T20Is and also went on to play the 2011 World Cup. He notched runs without much fuss and kept growing in stature. However, his credentials as a Test batsman was questioned. Nevertheless, the brickbats didn’t fluster Kohli by any means and he kept removing chinks in his armour.

Kohli going from strength to strength

Virat is currently ICC’s number-one ranked Test batsman, such is the character he has developed himself into. Even Steve Smith, who has the second-best Test average after Sir Don Bradman, has found it tough to topple Virat. The 31-year-old has 27 Test tons and 22 half-centuries to his name. In ODIs and T20Is, the Delhi-born has nearly 14,000 runs with 43 centuries and 79 fifties.

Kohli is also one of the all-time leading run-scorers in T20Is with 2,633 runs at an average of 52.66 with a top score of an unbeaten 94. Virat has dominated to such an extent that he is speculated to break a number of records, created by Sachin Tendulkar. Of late, India have dominated Test cricket under Kohli’s leadership. The team is placed on top in the ICC World Test Championship.

India have won all their matches and have thumped oppositions. Virat is next set to play the three-match T20I series versus Sri Lanka, starting January 5 at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. In the meantime, Kohli posted a picture on Twitter, narrating his journey during the last decade.

He posted a couple of pictures, one from the start of the decade and the other from the end. He captioned the picture and wrote, “Started from them flip flops, now we here!”,

Here is Virat Kohli’s post