Name: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is an Indian international cricketer and the former captain of the Indian national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional medium-fast bowler. He currently represents Royal Challengers Bangaluru in the IPL and Delhi in domestic cricket. He holds the record as the highest run-scorer in T20I and IPL, ranks third in ODI, and stands as the fourth-highest in international cricket. He also holds the record for scoring the most centuries in ODI cricket and stands second in the list of most international centuries scored. Kohli was a key member of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and captained India to win the ICC Test match three consecutive times in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2013, Kohli was ranked number one in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen. In 2015, he achieved the summit of T201 rankings. In 2018, he was ranked top Test batsman, making him the only Indian cricketer to hold the number one spot in all three formats of the game. In 2020, the International Cricket Council named him the male cricketer of the decade.

In 2002, Kohli’s junior cricket career took off at the Luhnu cricket ground in a match against the host state of Himachal Pradesh. During the 2003-04 season, Kohli was appointed as the captain of the Under-15 team. Towards the end of 2004, Kohli earned a selection for the 2004-05 Vijay Merchant Trophy with the Delhi Under-17 team.

On 18 February 2006, Kohli made his debut in List A cricket, playing against Services in the Ranji One-Day Trophy. On November 23, 2006, he made his first-class debut during the opening match of the Ranji Trophy season against Tamil Nadu.

Kohli’s foray into T20 cricket took place in April 2007, during the Inter-State T20 Championship, where he emerged as the top run-getter for his team. In September 2008, Kohli played in the Nissar Trophy against SNGPL (reigning champions of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy from Pakistan).

In July 2006, Kohli was selected for the India Under-19 squad on its tour of England. He averaged 105 in the three-match ODI series against England Under-19s. In February-March 2008, Kohli assumed the captaincy of the Indian squad that went on to triumph at the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia.

In August 2008, Kohli was included in the ODI squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. It was a surprise inclusion, since he had limited experience under his belt. During the Sri Lankan tour, as both first-choice openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag were unable to play due to injury, Kohli was required to fill the role of makeshift opener throughout the series.

 Kohli was picked as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan in the India A squad for the unofficial Tests against Australia A in September 2008. In October 2008, Kohli participated in a four-day tour match against Australia as part of the Indian Board President’s XI team. In November 2008, Kohli was selected for inclusion in the squad for the home ODI series against England. In December 2008, Koli was awarded a Grade D contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

In July-August 2009, Kohli was selected in the four-team Emerging Players Tournament, held in Australia. He was selected to open the innings for the Indian Emerging Players team in the tournament and went on to have a standout performance as he finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament.

In August 2009 Kohli returned to the national team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka.

In January 2010, Kohli was given the opportunity in the tri-nation ODI tournament in Bangladesh. During the series, Kohli became the third Indian player to score two ODI centuries before the age of 22.

In May-June 2010, he was appointed as vice-captain for the tri-series against Sri lanka and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe.

Kohli was India’s leading run scorer in the five-match ODI series of the South African tour in January 2011. During this series, he jumped to the number two spot on the ICC Rankings for Men’s ODI batters and was named in India’s 15-man squad for the World Cup.

Kohli was appointed the vice-captain for the 2012 Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Virat Kohli is one of cricket's modern legends. His journey began at a young age, showcasing immense talent in the sport. He rose through the ranks of Delhi's age-group cricket, catching the eye of selectors with his prolific run-scoring.

Kohli's breakthrough came in 2008 when he led the Indian U-19 team to victory in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. His performance earned him a spot in the senior national team, debuting against Sri Lanka.

In 2013, Kohli was appointed vice-captain of the Indian team. He assumed the full-time captaincy in 2017 after MS Dhoni stepped down.

In June 2013, Kohli features in the ICC Champions Trophy in England which India won.

Kohli stood in as the captain of the first ODI of the triangular series in the West Indies after Dhoni injured himself during the match. Kohli being named the captain for the remaining matches he scored his first century as captain. In July 2013, since many senior players were rested for the five-match ODI tour of Zimbabwe, Kohli was appointed as the captain for an entire series. In the first game of the series, he struck 115 runs from 108 balls, helping India chase down the target of 229 and winning the Man of the Match Award.

In a two-match series against west Indies, Kohli batted twice. It was also the last test series for Tendulkar and it was expected that Kohli would take his number 4 batting position after the series. In the first game of the three-match ODI series that followed at Kochi, Kohli made 86 to seal a six wicket win and won the Man of the Match.

India travelled to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20. Dhoni was ruled out of the series due to an injury which led to Kohli being named the captain for the tournament. Kohli scored 136 off 122 balls in India’s opening match against Bangladesh. It was his 19th ODI century and fifth in Bangladesh, making him the batsmen with most ODI centuries in Bangladesh.

Dhoni returned from his injury to captain the team for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 while Kohli was named vice-captain. Kohli made a total of 319 runs in the tournament, a record for most runs by an individual batsman in a single World Twenty20 tournament. For his achievement, he won the Man of the Tournament award.

In November 2014, in the five-match ODI series, Dhoni was rested and Kohli led the team to another full series. Kohli was awarded Player of the series and it was the second whitewash under his captaincy. During the series, he became the fastest batsman in the world to go past the 6000-run mark in ODIs.

Kohli got the chance to be captain in an ICC tournament for the first time in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. In the semi-final against Bangladesh, Kohli scored 196 and became the fastest batsman in terms of innings to reach 8000 runs in 175 innings. After this series, he was named as part of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ at the 2017 Champions Trophy by the ICC.

On December 16, 2018, in the 2018-2019 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli scored his 25th test hundred in Perth. His score of 123 was his 6th hundred in three tours to Australia making him the only Indian to score 6 test hundreds in Australia after Sachin Tendulkar. He also became the fastest Indian and second fastest overall to score 25 test hundreds second only to Donald Bradman. By winning this test series in Australia, he had become the first Indian and also the first Asian skipper to win a test series in Australia, He was again named as captain of both the World Test XI and ODI XI for 2018 by the ICC.

In April 2019, he was named the captain of India’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

In October 2019, Kohli captained India for the 50th time in Test Cricket in the second Test against South Africa. In the first innings of the match, Kohli scored an unbeaten 254 runs. In the process, he became the first batsman for India to score seven double centuries in Test cricket. In November 2019, during the day/night Test match against Bangladesh, Kohli became the fastest captain to score 5000 runs in Test cricket.

In September 2021, Kohli was named as the captain of India’s squad for the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. However, Kohli also publicly announced his decision to step down from the role of T20I captain at the end of the tournament.

He was named in India’s squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup and was awarded the Player of the Tournament.

In the Indian Premier League, he was selected by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2010, he led the side as the vice-captain and in 2011, he was appointed as the captain of the team. Kohli became the first player in the history of the Indian Premier League to play 250 matches for a single franchise