Virat Kohli was born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi, India.
The cricketer has evolved into one of the most iconic batsmen in the history of cricket. His unprecedented feats, tenacity, and relentless pursuit of excellence have inspired fans and reshaped the sport worldwide.
Kohli‘s journey from being a bright young player to a giant of world cricket is the saga of furious discipline and unwavering commitment. Of one who has not only achieved greatness but has well defined it.
The Early Years and the Road to Professional Cricket of Virat Kohli
Kohli began his cricketing career in Delhi, as he was one of the initial trainees at the West Delhi Cricket Academy, which came into existence in 1998. By 2002, he was already with the Delhi Under-15, for whom he played and, indeed, made his presence felt and marked himself out as a future star. By the 2003–04 season, he became the highest scorer for the Delhi Under-17 in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. He was a regular player and later in 2006, he was drafted into Delhi‘s senior team. Kohli though did not score heavily.
He seemed to be a very promising youngster. His rise to the Indian mainstream came in 2008 when he led the India Under-19 team to victory in the ICC Under-19 World Cup. For this, he got a three-year deal with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) worth $30,000.
Indian Premier League and Royal Challengers Bangalore
Kohli has been the part of the entire his IPL career to RCB. And this is something of a deviation of the league more renowned for changed players. The early seasons didn’t come up with anything special before him, however, when Kohli was entrusted with the position of vice-captain in 2010, is when the journey to become a leader of the franchise started. Kohli was retained by RCB for $1.8 million for the 2011 season, post which he had match-winning innings that helped carry his team into the final.
Though RCB lost the match to Chennai Super Kings, Kohli‘s effect was undeniable. He became the captain by 2013 and remained the same for eight seasons. In his 2016 IPL season, he scored 973 runs and hit four centuries in a single season, which will be remembered for a long time.
Though Kohli shines individually, his tenure for RCB has been mixed as the franchise hasn’t won an IPL title.
International Stardom: ODIs and Test Cricket
Virat Kohli debuted in ODIs in 2008 as an opener of sorts. His breakout came the next year when he scored his first ODI century against Sri Lanka. Kohli was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 ODI World Cup; there, he played an important knock scoring 35 runs in the final, and India won its first World Cup after 28 long years. He soon made his Test debut in the same year, although he struggled initially, as in the testing 2011–12 tour of Australia where India could only manage one century.
This further solidified his reputation as a “chase master,” a man who is good under pressure. He repeated his career-best ODI score of 183 in the thrilling chase against Pakistan during the 2012 Asia Cup, which further showed how good he was in the shorter formats.
Virat Kohli Becoming the Captain
Virat Kohli also showed leadership traits early in 2013 and 2014 when he batted as a captain since MS Dhoni went off because of injuries. Kohli eventually made his Test career debut as a full-fledged captain against Australia in 2014, scoring centuries in both innings, which heralded a new era in Indian cricket with aggression.
By 2015, Kohli had all three formats of the Indian team under his captaincy, combining an indomitable work ethic with a powerful strategic approach. He is one of the most successful captains for India, who also gave his country the most historic win against Australia in 2018–19. And, no wonder, Kohli conquered the Test format like a king, who first became the captain to achieve successive double hundreds in four successive series.
Defying Record Books
Though Kohli began his career with lower expectations and comparisons, he has smashed enough records in his multiple successful years at international cricket that every cricket fan and follower should boast about him. He was the quickest to reach 10,000 ODI runs, doing so in 54 fewer innings than before when Sachin Tendulkar had achieved that.
Kohli became the first player to score 20,000 runs across formats in the 2019 ODI World Cup during which India‘s campaign finished at the semifinals stage; he did not score centuries but showed consistency with five half-centuries. He levelled Tendulkar‘s ODI century record in his birthday match against South Africa in 2023 and then broke it dramatically in the semifinal match with New Zealand when, sitting in the stand, Tendulkar watched him score his 50th ODI hundred.
Final Stages of Captaincy and a New Chapter
Kohli resigned from his T20I captaincy in 2021 while he had already resigned from his ODI and Test captaincy earlier in 2022. Kohli’s term will be counted as one of the most successful, and the later had also done himself proud by earning himself the right of winning 40 Indian test match under his belt while he also became the highest-winning Indian Test captain. From the day he quit the captaincy, Kohli was able to get a new life with good performances.
One example for that revival can be cited when Kohli batted really well and came out with an aggressive knock of 82 runs when batting against Pakistan during the 2022 T20I World Cup. Despite many phases of patchy form, Kohli could regain the rhythm and scored several hundreds in ODIs and even scored his maiden T20I hundred against Afghanistan.
His last innings of T20Is was a half-century against South Africa in the final of 2024 T20I World Cup.
He announced retirement post that match as India won under his leadership.
Virat Kohli-Awards and Legacy
Kohli‘s contributions have earned him wide recognition. He won the Arjuna Award in 2013, the Padma Shri in 2017, and India‘s highest sporting honor, the Khel Ratna Award, in 2018. A stand at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi was named after him in 2019.
Kohli has received many accolades internationally. He won the ICC ODI Cricketer of the year for 2012, 2017, and 2018, and in 2018, Kohli was also awarded as ICC Test Player of the year. Kohli‘s innings of 133* against Sri Lanka in 2012 was voted the best batting performance of the year by an ODI batsman. Kohli is considered one of his greatest innings played so far. Kohli‘s Enduring Impact on Cricket
Apart from the numbers, Kohli has changed Indian cricket and made it a place of fitness, discipline, and aggression.
His legacy, both in statistics and an indelible mark he has left on the sport‘s modern ethos, continues to influence cricket far beyond Kohli’s own performances, inspiring a generation of cricketers to make fitness and mental toughness the hallmarks of their careers. Although Kohli‘s journey in international cricket continues in other formats, his influence will outlive him long after he walks off the field.
Virat Kohli has charted an extraordinary journey in cricket, from a young prodigy to modern legend, and remains a true testament to what relentless passion and dedication can achieve.