The Incredible Virat Kohli

• Posted by Vishkar Chaudhary July 7, 2020 Filed in Sports #cricket  #cricket news  #cricket leagues  633 views
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  Virat Kohli is the current captain of the India national cricket team and Royal Challengers Bangalore of the IPL -- the most prestigious Indian sports league. He was born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi, India. Kohli is known as one of the best batsmen in the world. 

  Since October 2017, he is the top-ranking ODI batsman in the world. As a cricket player, his highest records include 936 points for Test, 911 for ODI and 897 for T20Is. Due to his impeccable batting skills and good leadership, he is usually in cricket news. 

  He married Indian actress and producer, Anushka Sharma in Italy on December 11, 2017. 

   

  Personal Life

  Virat Kohli was born to a Punjabi family. His father, Prem Kohli was a criminal lawyer, while his mother, Saroj Kohli is a housewife. Kohli is the youngest out of three children. His older brother is named Vikas, and his older sister is Bhavna. 

  Most of his early childhood was spent in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi, where he attended the Vishal Bharti Public School. As early as the age of 3, Kohli has already shown an interest in cricket. 

  At the age of 9, he enrolled in the West Delhi Cricket Academy when it was founded in 1998. Mr Rajkumar Sharma was his mentor and former Ranji player. Until now, Sharma is Kohli’s personal coach. During his stay in the cricket academy, he would have matches at the Sumeet Dogra Academy. Kohli was highly dedicated to the sport and showed his immense passion. 

   

  Cricket Career

  In October 2002, Kohli was included in the Delhi Under-15 team for the 2002-03 Polly Umrigar Trophy where he scored a total of 172. Later on, he became part of the Under-17 and Under-19 teams where he scored the highest number of runs. 

  Eventually, the Indian Premier League -- the most popular Indian sports league -- bought Kohli after he captured their attention for scoring the highest runs in most of his matches. 

  At 19, he made his international debut. He took part in the Indian ODI squad against England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh. Again, Kohli managed to score the highest runs in almost all of his matches.

   

  Here are some of the highlights of his cricket career. 

  • His career peaked when he was included in the Indian ODI squad tour of Sri Lanka, Champions Trophy in Pakistan in 2008, ODI series against England and Emerging Players Tournament in Australia.

  • He played for India on a Tri-series against Sri Lanka in 2009.

  • He played for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2009. 

  • He played for the India ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2009.

  • He played for the Tri-nation ODI tournament in Bangladesh in 2010. 

  • Kohli was included to the World Cup squad in 2011 and continued to contribute to the rise of India in the World Cup.

   

  Captaincy

  Here are some key events as Virat was named captain of the team:

  • Kohli stood-in as the captain for the first ODI of the triangular series against the West Indies. 

  • In 2013, Kohli was the appointed captain for the entire ODI tour against Zimbabwe.

  • In December 2014, Kohli was appointed Test captain for the tour of Australia, since Dhoni was injured.

  • In 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket and was replaced by Kohli as the full-time captain of the national team.

  • In 2016, he was named as captain for the World ODI XI, organised by the ICC. 

  • Kohli became the captain of the team for the 'Team of the Tournament' in the 2016 T20 World Cup organised by the ICC.

  • For the first time since becoming the captain, he led the team in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

  • In 2018, he was captain of the India cricket team for both the World Test XI and ODI XI.

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

   

  Records 

   

  Kohli is a record-breaking cricket player and captain who has achieved several milestones. He is also the first cricket player to obtain all three highest awards from the ICC in a single year. The awards were Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year. 

   

  He is the fastest Indian cricket player to achieve the feats such as:

  • A century in ODIs with 52 balls.

  • 1,000 runs in ODIs.

  • 5,000 runs in ODIs.

  • 6,000 and 7,000 runs in ODIs.

  • 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 and 11,000 runs in ODIs in the world

  • 10 centuries in ODIs.

  • 15, 20 and 25 centuries in ODIs.

  • 30, 35 and 40 centuries in ODIs.

  • 15,000 international runs.

  • Along with Hashim Amla, they are the fastest batsmen to achieve 50 centuries in all forms of international cricket with 348 innings.

  • Second fastest in the world to achieve 1,000 runs in T20Is.

  • Only batsman ever to average more than 50 in Tests, ODIs and T20Is

  • Highest rating points in the ICC rankings by an Indian batsman in Tests with 937 points, ODIs with 911 points and T20Is with 897 points. 

  • Overcame 900 rating points in the ICC rankings for both Tests and ODIs 

  • First batsman to score a total of 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series.

  • Fastest cricketer in the world to score a total of 2,000 runs in terms of innings in T20Is with 56

  • First Indian cricketer ever to score three successive centuries in ODIs.

  • He has the most double centuries for India in Tests with a total of 7.

   

  Meanwhile, Kohli’s achievements in most runs are:

  • Most ODI runs in 2017 and 2018.

  • Most Test runs in 2018.

  • Most ODI runs by an Indian cricketer from 2010 to 2016.

  • Most Test runs by an Indian cricketer in 2012, 2015 and 2016.

  • Highest overall international runs scored in a year by an Indian cricketer with a total of 2,818 in 2017. 

  • Most runs scored by an Indian cricketer in a three-match Test series with a total 610 runs against Sri Lanka in 2017.

  • Most runs in a bilateral ODI series by any cricketer with a total of 558 runs. This was achieved during a match against South Africa in 2018.

   

  Playing Techniques

  Kohli is known for being an aggressive batsman in the field. He has naturally strong technical skills. During batting, he has a slightly open-chested stance with a strong grip and quick footwork.

  Kohli has a wide range of shots, pace in innings and able to bat even under pressure. Despite the popularity of the sweep shot technique, Kohli is not seen to use this. 

  He is recognised as the best batsman in limited-overs and is being compared to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar -- former captain of the Indian national cricket team and one of the greatest batsman in the history of cricket.