Introduction

India cricket supporters have witnessed many great players, but few greater than Virat Kohli, who has reigned supreme in the cricket world with his incredible batting talent. Born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi to Prem Kohli, a criminal lawyer, and Saroj Kohli, a housewife, Kohli joined West Delhi Cricket Academy in 1998 and got trained under his coach Rajkumar Sharma. 

Career Information

Test Debut: West Indies vs India at Kingston, June 20-23, 2011

ODI Debut: Sri Lanka vs India at Dambulla, August 18, 2008

T20I Debut: Zimbabwe vs India at Harare, June 12, 2010

IPL Debut: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, April 18, 2008

In 2006, Kohli made his List A debut for Delhi against Services at the age of 17. In November 2006, at 18, he made his maiden appearance in first-class cricket for his state. However, in 2008, he grabbed eyeballs as he led the India Under-19 team from the front to a title triumph in the World Cup.

International Debut:

Following his impressive show for the junior side in the Under-19 World Cup, Kohli got selected in the ODI team for the Sri Lanka tour in 2008. On August 18, 2008, 19-year-old Kohli made his international debut in the first ODI against Sri Lanka and opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir. He was dismissed on 12 runs in his maiden international game.

Earning a spot in the national squad:

In 2010, the Indian team management backed Kohli despite his struggle with the bat in the back-to-back series. However, in the three-match ODI series against Australia at home, he notched up a century and earned the Player of the Match award in the second match in Visakhapatnam. During the home ODI series against New Zealand, Kohli hit a crucial match-winning century in the first game in Guwahati.

Appearing in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Kohli’s crucial 83-run stand with Gautam Gambhir helped India in a memorable triumph. In June 2011, Kohli received a Test cap as he made his first appearance in the longest format of the game in the first match against the West Indies in Kingston.

In December 2011, he went to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and emerged as the leading run-scorer for India. Playing the final game at the Adelaide Oval, he also scored his maiden century against the Aussies. In 2012, Kohli won the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year award after becoming the top scorer in 2011. 

Captaincy Career:

In the absence of the regular skipper MS Dhoni, due to an injury, Kohli captained the side in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15. On the bouncy track of Adelaide Oval, he exuded confidence as a batter with his twin centuries (115 and 141).. 

In the second innings, Kohli’s elegant innings gave the Aussies a headache as the visitors looked set to chase 364 with ease before a dramatic batting collapse. India lost the distinguished four-match Test competition by a 2-0 margin but for Kohli, it was a perfect series as he became the leading run-scorer for India, scoring 692 runs with four centuries and a half-century in eight innings. 

After MS Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket in December 2014, Kohli got the reins of the Test captaincy. From 2015-17, the Indian Test team looked in magnificent form under him. Thrashing the quality teams such as South Africa, New Zealand, England, and Australia, India became a dominant side at home.

After leading India for 10 years in white-ball cricket, MS Dhoni stepped down as a skipper. Filling the shoes of the veteran, Kohli took the mantle of captaincy with the three-match ODI series against England at home. Leading the ODI team for the first time as a full-time skipper, he secured a 2-1 win against the visitors. 

As an ODI captain, Kohli faced one of the major blows in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 as India got hammered by the arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. However, after the infamous defeat, he created history with his captaincy skills as the Indian team achieved immense success not only at home but also overseas. In February 2018, Kohli and his men pummelled the Proteas by a 5-1 margin and tasted their maiden ODI series win in South Africa.

In 2018-19, India achieved success in winning a Test series in Australia for the first time. After more than two years of the spectacular journey under the veteran’s leadership, India played some brilliant cricket in the 2019 World Cup as well. However, New Zealand handed an 18-run defeat to the Men in Blue in the semi-final and shattered their dream of lifting the trophy.

During his captaincy stint, Kohli came under fierce criticism for not winning any major trophies for the nation. In 2021, the ICC Test Championship final loss and the embarrassing T20 World Cup campaign made the matter worse. After the T20 World Cup 2021, he relinquished the shortest format’s captaincy. In January 2022, Kohli stepped down as India’s captain from ODI and Tests as well.

IPL Career:

In 2008, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) roped in Virat Kohli for INR 12 lakh at the auction.  Since the maiden season of the tournament, he has been a vital cog in the team due to his incredible batting potential. After serving the franchise efficiently for five seasons, he got the captaincy mantle in 2013. In 2016, Kohli had the best IPL season as he looked effective with the bat, becoming the highest run-scorer in the competition with a record 973 runs in the season, including four centuries.. However, with captaincy, he couldn’t help the team to win their maiden title losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final. In 2021, he left the captaincy after leading the franchise for nine seasons. 

Virat Kohli Personal Life:

In 2013, Virat Kohli started dating Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. His relationship with the diva got a lot of media attention. On December 11, 2017, both got married in a private ceremony in Florence, Italy. After more than three years of marriage, the couple became parents as they welcomed a daughter, Vamika, in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.