The Virat Kohli Story: From Delhi’s Streets To World Champion

Virat Kohli was born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi, India. He is an Indian international cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the best batsman in the sport's history. Kohli now represents (and previously captained) the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He is also a past captain of the Indian cricket team in all three international formats—test cricket, one-day internationals (ODIs), and Twenty20 internationals (T20Is), making him one of the country's most successful captains.

Kohli holds various cricket records, including the most individual hundreds (50) in ODI matches, breaking Sachin's mark of 49, and the most runs scored in a single edition of the ODI World Cup.

He has won Player of the Tournament awards at three world events: the 2014 and 2016 T20I World Cups, as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup. Kohli was also part of the Indian teams that won the 2011 ODI World Cup, the 2013 ICC (International Cricket Council) Champions Trophy, and the 2024 T20I World Cup.

He retired from Twenty20 international cricket after India won the 2024 World Cup defeating South Africa. Kohli made the news after being named Player of the Match. Virat Kohli is married to Anushka Sharma, a prominent Bollywood actress and producer, and they have two children.

EARLY LIFE

Virat Kohli was born November 5, 1988, in Delhi, India. Kohli was born into a Punjabi household based in Delhi. His father was a criminal lawyer, and his mother was a housewife. He grew up in Delhi and was one of the first to train at the West Delhi Cricket Academy, which was established in 1998.

In 2002, he played for the Delhi Under-15 team and was the top run scorer in the 2003-04 Vijay Merchant Trophy for the Delhi Under-17s. Kohli made his domestic debut for Delhi in a one-day match against Services (an Indian armed forces team) in February 2006, although he did not bat.

He scored only 10 runs in his first-class debut against Tamil Nadu in November of that year. He made 90 runs in a challenging first-class encounter against Karnataka in December, helping Delhi draw the Test. In April 2007, he made 35 runs in his T20 domestic debut against Himachal Pradesh.

Kohli led the Under-19 Indian cricket side to victory at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2008. His performances earned him a $30,000 IPL contract with RCB. He also made his international debut in an ODI that year, starting the batting and scoring 12 runs in a defeat to Sri Lanka in Dambulla.

In 2009, he scored 405 runs in nine innings at the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia, putting him at the top of the national team selectors' minds.

PERSONAL LIFE

Kohli's romantic relationship with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, which began in 2013, earned them the nickname "Virushka". While interviewing with Graham Bensinger, Kohli informed that his first meeting with Anushka was during the promotional shoot of Clear shampoo.

Their union ever since has been the talk of many media hubs with speculation and rumors running high in the press as both sides are very tight-lipped about openly confirming the relationship. The couple got married in a very private ceremony on December 11, 2017, in Florence, Italy, and before long turned into the country's favorite celebrity jodi.

On January 11, 2021, the couple welcomed their first child, a baby girl whom they named Vamika. On February 15, 2024, the couple welcomed their second child, a son named Akaay.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE CAREER

Virat Kohli has spent his whole IPL career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, making him the only player in IPL history to have played for just one team. His first two seasons with RCB produced little runs, but he had some noteworthy performances after being promoted to vice captain in 2010.

Before the 2011 IPL auctions, league administrators mandated that each franchise retain up to four players. Kohli was the sole player retained by RCB, for $1.8 million. He contributed some vital knocks (innings) as RCB advanced to the league final, but were defeated by Chennai Super Kings that year.

Kohli was selected captain in 2013 and led RCB for the next eight seasons. He was re-signed in 2014 for $1.6 million. In 2015, he moved up the order to begin the batting, and his results improved.

The following year was a watershed moment for him, as he scored 973 runs and four hundreds, gaining the Orange Cap as the leading run scorer, a single-season record he still maintains as of 2023. Unfortunately, RCB lost the league final to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Kohli was retained in 2018 for $2.1 million, but he struggled to score as freely as he had in 2016. In 2022, he was re-signed for $2 million but ceded his captaincy to Faf du Plessis. Kohli has since captained on occasion when du Plessis is injured. Kohli is the most prolific individual run scorer in IPL history, but RCB's lack of trophies has disappointed his supporters.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

A prolonged tenure with the national squad was the result of Kohli's impressive run of runs. Against Sri Lanka in 2009, he struck his first century in an ODI. Against Bangladesh in his first World Cup match as a member of the Indian team, Kohli got a century. After making a vital 35 runs in the championship match, he helped India win the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

After winning the World Cup, players like Sachin Tendulkar were rested, so later in 2011, Kohli made his Test debut against the West Indies.

India lost the Test series 4-0 while on their catastrophic 2011–12 tour to Australia, although Kohli was praised for being the only Indian player to make a century during the trip.

He was known by this point as an ODI maestro of the chase. India had to chase Sri Lanka's 320 in just 40 overs in order to secure a vital bonus point and advance to the final of the 2012 Commonwealth Bank Series between Australia and Sri Lanka.

Although India managed to reach the necessary number of runs in just 36.4 overs due to Kohli's unbeaten 133 in 86 deliveries, India ultimately lost to Sri Lanka in the final qualifying match, preventing them from qualifying.

After being named vice captain of the ODI team for the 2012 Asia Cup, Kohli ended the competition as the top run scorer with his highest ODI score of 183 in a successful run chase against Pakistan, even though India did not make it to the final.

With 43 runs in the championship game against England, Kohli led the Indian team that won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

After his hero Tendulkar retired from Test cricket in 2013, Kohli assumed the important number four batting place. In a drawn Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg, Kohli demonstrated that he was deserving of the position by scoring 119 and 96 over the course of two innings.

India defeated Australia in the second match of their 2013 ODI series, with 39 balls remaining.

Kohli achieved the fastest century by an Indian player as of 2023, scoring a century in just 52 balls. He reached a century in 61 balls in the sixth encounter, helping India to a successful 350 chase.

At the 2014 T20I World Cup, Kohli scored the most runs and was crucial to India's victory over South Africa in the semifinals. In the match that India lost to Sri Lanka in the final, he also scored the most goals.

Many began to doubt Kohli's ability after he struggled during India's multi-format tour to England later that year. During the 2015 ODI World Cup, he faced challenges aside from his century against Pakistan.

His scoring streak at the 2016 Asia Cup enabled India to advance to the championship game and win it. He was once again named Player of the Tournament in the 2016 T20I World Cup. He led India to a thrilling chase against Australia and to the semifinal, where they were defeated by the eventual champion West Indies.

When MS Dhoni, the Indian captain at the time, got injured during a three-country series in the West Indies in 2013, Virat Kohli took over as captain and led the team for the remainder of the match.

Then, with some star players resting, he captained India against Zimbabwe in an ODI series. In Dhoni's absence, Kohli captained India in the 2014 Asia Cup and scored a century, however India was unable to advance to the championship match.

Ever the aggressive hitter, Kohli demonstrated this side of his game in Adelaide, Australia, prior to his debut Test captaincy in 2014, when Dhoni was hurt. After hitting a century in his maiden innings as captain, Kohli demonstrated that he will not play for a draw, unlike many other Indian captains.

With 141 in the second innings, India nearly chased a difficult 364. Dhoni was injured again before returning for the second Test, so Kohli took over in the third Test and struck a century and fifty as India drew. Following the game, Dhoni announced his retirement, making Kohli the official Test captain going forward.

India lost to Pakistan in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, despite Kohli captaining the team. Against Sri Lanka in a Test series that year, Kohli amassed two double hundreds.

He kept getting hundreds in ODIs. He made up for his bad run from the previous England visit on the 2018 tour by scoring well and led India to one victory, but the team lost the series 1-4 after losing close games.

In the same year when he became the fastest batsman to score 10,000 runs in ODIs—54 innings behind the previous record held by Sachin Tendulkar—Kohli became the 13th player to reach that milestone.

When Kohli resigned as Test captain in 2022, Rohit Sharma assumed the role. In 68 Test matches, a record, Kohli had led India and won 40 of them. With series victories at home and away, he has been by far the most successful Indian captain, and his record stands up well against the greatest captains of all time.

In the 2022 Asia Cup, Kohli made his spectacular comeback to form after a few years of underwhelming performances. He scored his first T20I century against Afghanistan, but India was unable to advance to the final. He led the scoring in the 2022 T20I World Cup, but India was defeated by eventual champion England in the semifinals.

He received a great deal of accolades for his relentless 82-run chase against Pakistan during that tournament.

Early in 2023, Kohli returned to scoring hundreds in ODIs, starting with a century against Sri Lanka. In the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, he made his first century in the series against Australia in three years. Against Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup, he scored another century in an ODI.

During the 2023 ODI World Cup, Kohli broke multiple records. Against Sri Lanka, he became the eighth player to reach 1,000 runs in a calendar year, surpassing Tendulkar's record of seven times.

Kohli equaled Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds in the match against South Africa, which also happened to be his birthday.

Many cricket commentators thought this record would never be surpassed. With Tendulkar in attendance, Kohli achieved his historic 50th ODI century in the semifinal match against New Zealand in Mumbai.

In the match, which Australia won, Kohli scored fifty runs for India. With his 765 runs, he broke Tendulkar's record of 673 runs set in 2003 and became the player of the tournament. This was the first World Cup with the most runs in a single edition.

Despite his lackluster performance in the 2024 T20I World Cup, Kohli closed the series with a bang, hitting his maiden tournament half-century in India's 7-run victory over South Africa. After winning Player of the Match, Kohli announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket.

AWARDS

In 2013, the Indian government awarded Kohli the Arjuna Award, which is the country's second-highest athletic accolade. The Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor, was bestowed upon Kohli in 2017.

2018 saw him win India's top sporting accolade, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (now known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award). 2019 saw the renaming of a stand at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium in Kohli's honor.

Both governing organizations and the cricket community have given Kohli numerous awards. Many people believe that his innings of 133 not out in the Commonwealth Bank Series against Sri Lanka in Australia, which was awarded the ODI batting performance of the year in the 2012 ESPNcricinfo Awards, is his best-ever performance.

He was awarded Test Player of the Year by the ICC in 2018 and ODI Cricketer of the Year by the ICC in 2012, 2017, and 2018. In all but the first two years, he was the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2012, 2014, and 2016–19.

In addition, he was consistently selected as captain for the ICC Test Team of the Year from 2017 to 2019. He was selected for the ICC T20I Team of the Year in 2022. In addition, he was chosen for the ICC Men's Team of the Decade in all three formats from 2011 to 2020. He also served as the Test team's captain.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. How did Virat Kohli start his career?

After gaining sufficient recognition in 2006, Kohli was selected for the state senior team. Later, on November 23, 2006, in the inaugural Ranji Trophy encounter against Tamil Nadu, he made his debut in the first class. Though he only managed to score ten runs in his opening innings, it was a short one.

2. How many trophies has Kohli won?

With the victory in the Twenty20 World Cup in 2024 against South Africa, Kohli now owns every limited-overs trophy. Under MS Dhoni's guidance, he won the Champions Trophy in 2013 as well as the ODI World Cup in 2011. But the red-ball glories are still ahead of him.

3. What is special about Virat Kohli?

In international cricket, Kohli's tally of 80 centuries includes seven double hundreds. Of these, 29 came in Test matches, where he also made seven double hundreds, 50 in One Day Internationals (ODIs), where he broke Sachin Tendulkar's record, and one in Twenty20 matches.

ALSO READ: Rahul Dravid Reflects on Coaching Journey with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

ALSO WATCH: