Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli’s Early Life

Virat Kohli was born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi. When he was three years old, he picked up the bat.

He secured a place in the West Delhi Cricket Academy as part of their first intake as a nine-year-old. It was here where he honed his talent under the guidance of Rajkumar Sharma. Kohli then moved to Saviour Convent in Paschim Vihar to explore better opportunities in cricket.

Before entering India’s Under-19 squad in July 2006, Kohli was already a cricket icon in Delhi. In April 2007, he played interstate Twenty20 for the first time and became the highest run scorer in his team. Due to his remarkable record, he became the captain of the Indian under-19 cricket team in March 2008. 

Virat Kohli’s International Career

In August 2008, Virat Kohli stepped into the international ODI scene at the age of 19, during India’s series against Sri Lanka. He scored his first ODI century in a home series conducted a year later. In 2010, he became the fastest Indian batter to score 1,000 runs in ODI cricket.

Kohli’s grounded nature and technique as a batter earned him his first century on his World Cup debut against Bangladesh in 2011. Despite being a new addition to the team, his achievements outnumbered his failures, making him the best candidate for captaincy after the legendary MS Dhoni stepped down. 

In 2014, Kohli became the captain of Indian Test cricket, and three years later, he took over as captain for the remaining formats as well. His batting prowess made him the No. 1 Test batter in the International Cricket Council Test rankings dated August 5, 2018. He also now holds the record for scoring the most Test centuries as captain of India with 20. 

Kohli relinquished his Twenty20 International captaincy in December 2021, and on January 15, 2022, he quit being India’s Test captain too. Based on ICC rankings, the Indian Test team remained at the top from October 2016 until early March 2020, under Kohli’s leadership. 

Cricket Positioning
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	Top-order batter

Virat Kohli’s IPL Career

Virat Kohli ventured into the Indian Premier League as the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore and led the team for eight seasons. Although his tenure did not reap a single tournament win, his personal record stands out. At the 2016 tournament, Kohli bagged four centuries and broke the record for most runs in an IPL season. 

In October 2016, Kohli became a permanent member of RCB. He notched up 6,000 IPL runs on April 22, 2021, making him the first-ever player to achieve this tally. In September 2021, his final game as captain ended on an unimpressive note as his team lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in an eliminator.

Virat Kohli’s International Record

Virat Kohli is a true legend in world cricket, especially as a batter. His aggressive style and strong technique have earned him countless international records. Here are just a few of them:

Test Cricket

• Kohli is the first batter to have scored four double centuries in four consecutive Test series (West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh - 2016-17).
• Kohli was the first Test skipper to score three hundreds in his first three innings as captain. 
• Kohli is also the first batter to reach three double centuries in two consecutive years in Test cricket.
   

ODI Cricket

• Kohli notched up more than 300 runs in a bilateral ODI series on six different occasions.
• His partnership with Rohit Sharma resulted in four double-century stands, the most by any duo in ODI history.
• On October 24, 2018, Kohli secured his 10,000th ODI run in his 205th innings, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's earlier record of 10,000 runs in 259 innings.
• Kohli broke Ricky Ponting’s record for most ODI runs in a calendar year as captain.

T20I Cricket

• Kohli became the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20 internationals.
• In addition, the Indian skipper is also the first batter to chalk up 600 runs in T20I in a calendar year.
• On July 3, 2018, Kohli became the first player to attain 2,000 runs in T20 internationals

Combined ODI, Test, and T20I

• On December 11, 2016, Kohli became the only batter in history to record an average of more than 50 in all three formats of the game.
• In just 93 innings, he scored twenty hundreds as captain in comparison to Ponting’s record of 164 innings.
• On October 29, 2017, Kohli made history as the fastest captain to score 5,000 career runs.

Virat Kohli’s Personal Life

Virat Kohli began to date Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma in 2013. The lovebirds tied the knot on December 11, 2017, in Florence, Italy. 

On January 11, 2021, the couple gave birth to a daughter, Vamika.

Virat Kohli’s Net Worth

Virat Kohli’s net worth is estimated to be around $127million (INR 940 crores) as of 2022. He makes money through the IPL, other matches, and a whopping number of endorsements. Some of them include Audi, Colgate, Puma, Palmolive, and MRF, boiling down to 17 different companies in India.

Kohli’s annual IPL salary is approximately $22million (INR 143.2 crores). According to Forbes, Kohli’s brand value is $237.7million. 

He also owns Nueva, a restaurant located in Delhi’s Sangam complex in RK Puram.

Virat Kohli’s Other Interests:

Virat Kohli is a big fan of fitness and when he is relieved of his duties on the field, he squeezes in time to travel. He loves partying and has frequently been spotted grooving to hit Punjabi bangers. His dancing skills, besides his good looks, have impressed fans everywhere. He is additionally associated with fashion brands such as One8, Wrogn and MuveAcoustics.