He first came into the spotlight when he kept on batting for Delhi in a Ranji trophy match even after hearing the news of his father’s death.
Aggressive, tough and talented, he is a typical modern-day cricketer who has emerged as one of the leading faces of Indian cricket’s current generation. He bares his emotions loudly in public, yet retains the element of maturity that forms an integral part of every great player.
He was ICC ODI Player of the Year 2012.
Childhood
Virat Kohli was born on November 5, 1988 in New Delhi. He attended school at Vishal Bharti and Savier Convent.
Ten-year-old Kohli started to play cricket for West Delhi Cricket Academy and was the leading run-getter for his team in the U-15 Polly Umrigar Trophy.
Career
After he captained India’s World Cup winning Under-19 side in Malaysia, he was called up to in the ODI squad for India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2008.
He was initially deployed at various positions in the batting line-up, from replacing Virender Sehwag as an opener to accelerating in the middle-order. After 25 ODI innings, he had already amassed 10 fifty-plus scores including two centuries.
He had a marvellous run in 2010 during which he amassed over 1000 runs and did not let his guard down in 2011 by scoring a century in his maiden World Cup match against Bangladesh and contributed decently right throughout the tournament.
The wait for a Test cap ended when he was selected in the Test team on the tour of West Indies in 2011. The strongest evidence of his mettle came early in 2012 during his maiden ton in whites on India’s tour to Australia.
He plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He helped Bangalore reach the finals of the 2009 and 2011 IPL seasons and then almost single-handedly taking them to the title clash in the 2011 Champions League Twenty20.
Achievements
Peoples’ Choice Awards for Favorite Sportsperson of the Year 2012
Fastest Indian cricketer to reach 5000 runs in ODIs
Arjuna Award 2013