Virat Kohli is undoubtedly the biggest batter of modern-day cricket with ample runs and records behind him. Since his debut, the batsman has destroyed many records and made some new ones. After a few years on the Indian team, Kohli underwent a complete transformation into a completely different batsman and began to rule the world with his exceptional batting across all formats. Kohli joined the Indian team as an ordinary batsman.
Kohli is most likely the first batsman to show by his commitment, perseverance, and hard effort that one can manage to perform consistently regardless of the format.
Let us look back at his cricketing journey which made him from an ordinary Delhi boy to now known as the Run Machine.
Birth And Family-:
Prem and Saroj Kohli welcomed Virat Kohli into the world on November 5th, 1988 in Delhi, into a Punjabi family. In 1998, Kohli enrolled in the West Delhi Cricket Academy and began training with Rajkumar Sharma. Before being chosen for the 2006 trip to England by the Indian U-19 team, he competed in all age-group competitions for Delhi.
The Nickname Chiku –:
His childhood coach Ajeet Chaudhury at the West Delhi Cricket academy gave him the name “Cheeku” inspired by the popular comic ‘Champak’.
Glimpses of Kohli’s greatness were visible during his domestic days. His passion for cricket was seen in a Ranji game. His father passed away from a stroke during a Ranji Trophy game against Karnataka, but Kohli was adamant about continuing, and he made 90 runs before going to his father’s funeral.
Cricket Idol –:
This story was similar to his cricketing idol, Sachin Tendulkar. He also played a brave inning during the World cup after the demise of his father. He scored a memorable century in that match.
International Debut-:
In an ODI match against Sri Lanka in 2008, Virat Kohli made his debut in international cricket due to the absence of the series’ starting openers Sachin and Sehwag due to injury. He scored only 12 runs in his debut innings.
Due to their similar batting techniques, Kohli and Tendulkar are frequently compared, and Tendulkar’s “successor” is also sometimes used to describe Kohli. Former players of the game anticipate Kohli to surpass Tendulkar’s batting records.
The current great scored 558 runs in six matches to set the record for the most runs scored in a bilateral series of five or more games.
In 2011, Virat Kohli played in his first test against the West Indies, but it was a game to forget as he scored 4 and 15 runs in the first and second innings.
2014’s India tour of Australia was a disaster and the leanest period in Kohli’s career. In 5 games, he scored only 134 runs. Depression-afflicted, Virat recovered better for the series against Australia in Australia. For India, he was the lone fighter, scoring 692 runs in 4 games, including 4 centuries.
Test Epicness-:
As the leader of his team in Tests, the longest version of the game, Kohli has scored seven double centuries.
List Of Awards By Virat Kohli –
ICC Men’s Cricketer Of The Decade(2011-2020)
ICC Cricketer Of The Year (2017)
ICC Test Player Of The Year (2018)
ICC ODI Player Of The Year (2012, 2017, 2018)
Wisden Leading Cricketer In The World (2016,2017 and 2018)
Arjuna Award( 2013)
Padma Shri (2017)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2018)
IPL Unbeaten Record – Virat Kohli holds the record for the most runs in a single IPL edition which is 973 in the year 2016. In that year, he also smashed 4 centuries.
