Virat Kohli

.

Virat Kohli (Hindi pronunciation: [ʋɪˈɾɑːʈ ˈkoːɦli] (listen); born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the Indian national team who plays as a right-handed batsman for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and for Delhi in Indian domestic cricket. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time,^[3] Kohli holds the record for scoring most runs in both T20 internationals and in IPL. In 2020, the International Cricket Council named him as the male cricketer of the decade. Kohli has also contributed to India's successes, including winning the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions trophy.

Born and raised in New Delhi, Kohli trained in West Delhi Cricket Academy; started his youth career with Delhi Under-15 team. Kohli made his international debut in 2008 and quickly became a key player in the ODI team. He made his Test debut in 2011.^[4] In 2013, Kohli reached the number one spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time. During 2014 T20 World Cup, he set a record for the most runs scored in the tournament. In 2018, he achieved yet another milestone, becoming the world's top-ranked Test batsman, making him the only Indian cricketer to hold the number one spot in all three formats of the game. His form continued in 2019, where he became the first player to score 20,000 international runs in single decade. In 2021, Kohli made the decision to step down as the captain of the Indian national team for T20Is, following the T20 World Cup and in early 2022 he stepped down as the captain of the Test team as well.

Kohli has received many accolades for his performances on the cricket field. He was recognized as the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2012 and has won Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, given to the ICC Cricketer of the Year, on two occasions, in 2017 and 2018. Kohli also won ICC Test Player of the Year and ICC ODI Player of the Year awards in 2018, becoming the first player to win both awards in the same year. Additionally, Kohli was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for three consecutive years, from 2016 to 2018. At the national level, Kohli was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2013, the Padma Shri under the sports category in 2017 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour, in 2018.

India Under-19

In July 2006, Kohli was selected in the India Under-19 squad on its tour of England. He averaged 105 in the three-match ODI series against England Under-19s^[31] and 49 in the three-match Test series.^[32] India Under-19 went on to win both the series. At the conclusion of the tour, the India Under-19 coach Lalchand Rajput was impressed with Kohli and said, "Kohli showed strong technical skills against both pace and spin".^[33] In September, the India Under-19 team toured Pakistan. Kohli averaged 58 in the Test series^[34] and 41.66 in the ODI series against Pakistan Under-19s.^[35]

In July–August 2007, India Under-19 team toured Sri Lanka for the triangular series against Sri Lanka Under-19s and Bangladesh Under-19s, Kohli was the second highest run-getter in the series with 146 runs at an average of 29 from 5 matches.^[36] In the two-match Test series that followed, he scored 244 runs at an average of 122 including a century and a fifty.^[37]

In February–March 2008, Kohli captained the victorious Indian team at the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. Batting at number 3, he scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47 and finished as the tournament's third-highest run-getter and one of the three batsmen to score a century in that tournament.^[38] His century (100 runs from 74 balls) against the West Indies Under-19s in the group stage match was called "the innings of the tournament" by ESPNcricinfo, gave India a 50-run victory and earned Kohli the man of the match.^[39] He helped India in a three-wicket semi-final win over New Zealand Under-19s by taking 2 wickets and scoring 43 runs in the run-chase and was awarded the man of the match.^[40] He scored 19 against South Africa Under-19s in the final which India won by 12 runs (courtesy to D/L method).^[41]

In June 2008, Kohli and his Under-19 teammates Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava were awarded the Border-Gavaskar scholarship. The scholarship allowed the three players to train for six weeks at Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.^[42] Kohli was also picked in the squad of India Emerging Players for the four-team Emerging Players Tournament; scored 206 runs in six matches at an

 average of 41.20

International career

2008–2009: Debut and maiden stint

In August 2008, Kohli was selected for inclusion in the ODl squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Prior to the Sri Lankan tour, Kohli had limited experience, with only eight List A matches under his belt.^[44] So, his selection was considered a "surprise call-up".^[45] During the Sri Lankan tour, as both first-choice openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, were unable to play due to injury, Kohli was required to fill the role of makeshift opener throughout the series.^[46] On 18 August 2008, Kohli made his international debut at the age of 19 in the first ODI of the tour, where he was dismissed for 12 runs, caught dead in front by an incutter from Nuwan Kulasekara.^[47] However, in the fourth match of the series, Kohli achieved his inaugural half century in the ODl format, with a total of fifty-four runs scored.^[48]

Following the postponement of the Champions Trophy to 2009, 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.^[49] Despite limited opportunities, he managed to make an impact in the single innings that he participated in, scoring 49 runs.^[50] In October 2008, Kohli participated in a four-day tour match against Australia as part of the Indian Board President's XI team. The match featured a formidable Australian bowling line-up that consisted of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Jason Krejza. Despite this, Kohli displayed his batting prowess by scoring 105 runs in the first innings and an unbeaten 16 runs in the second innings, demonstrating his ability to perform against high-level international competition.^[51]

In November 2008, Kohli was selected for inclusion in the squad for the home ODI series against England, due to the presence of established and experienced players such as Tendulkar and Sehwag, he was not given an opportunity to play in any of the matches.^[52] In December 2008, Kohli was awarded a Grade D contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as part of the annual contract list for the Indian national team which entitled him to receive ₹1.5 million (equivalent to ₹3.6 million or US$44,000 in 2020), A certain level of remuneration for representing the national team in various matches and events.^[53] Despite being awarded a contract, in January, Kohli was dropped for the five-match ODl series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.