Virat the name perfectly defines the stature of the player in world cricket. He has been redefining the way cricket is played and rewriting the record books since the time he began his journey. He channels his aggression to move beyond the realm of the ordinary and achieve greatness.
EARLY YEARS :
Virat Kohli was born on Nov 5, 1988, in Delhi.
He started his tryst with cricket at West Delhi Cricket Academy spending his formative years under the tutelage of Rajkumar Sharma and spending hours in practice to perfect the technique that would help him grow into the world-class batsman that he is currently.
FIRST TASTE OF STARDOM :
Virat Kohli first came into public consciousness when he captained the Indian U-19 side to World Cup glory in Malaysia as a brash and aggressive kid who was always up for a fight sometimes literally. He had stacked up 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47 and was the third highest run scorer of the tournament.
Following the success of U-19, he was brought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL for $30000 on a youth contract. In June 2008 Kohli and his U-19 teammates, Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Shrivastava were awarded the Border-Gavaskar scholarship which allowed them to train at Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.
GOING INTERNATIONAL :
Virat Kohli received a surprise call-up to the senior national side in August 2008 and was asked to open the innings in his debut against the mighty Lankans. He started off his career with 12 runs and sent back to the hut by Chaminda Vaas. He improved as the series went on scoring his maiden half-century in his 4th match.
Kohli continued piling up the runs in the domestic arena and then played for Board President XI against Australia scoring a century while facing a full strength Australian attack.
Kohli then played in the Emerging Players tournament and finished as the leading run scorer in the tournament with 398 runs and making a strong case for his selection.
HOLDING ON HIS OWN :
Kohli celebrated his second coming with a hunger for runs stacking up the numbers to cement his place in the fabled Indian batting line-up. He scored his 1st ODI century against Sri Lanka which started a love affair of his against the island nation. He scored his 2nd ODI century against Bangladesh and became only the 3rd Indian batsman to score 2 international centuries before his 22nd birthday. Kohli was India's leading run scorer in ODI's and his rich vein of form ensured his selection in the 2011 World Cup.
2011 WORLD CUP :
Kohli started his World Cup campaign with a sublime 100 against Bangladesh thereby becoming the first Indian batsman to score a century on World Cup debut. His form dipped in the next few matches but he was given a longer rope owing to his recent performances.
He returned to form with a 59 against the West Indies and provided a supporting role to Yuvraj Singh. He brought the Indian innings back on track in the finals by stitching an important 83 run partnership with Gautam Gambhir as India went on to lift the World Cup after a gap of 28 years.
THE REAL TEST:
His journey in whites started after being selected in India's tour to the West Indies where he was found wanting against the short ball and was troubled by genuine pace. His defence was all over the place and he was all at sea in the most trying of conditions scoring just 76 runs in the 5 innings that he played.
Kohli found a place in the XI in the tour of Australia and started off with a couple of failures as he again had a hard time coming up against the pace and seam movement. He had a forgettable start to the tour rounded up with showing the middle finger to the crowd for which he was fined 50% of his match fee.
But come to the 3rd match Kohli was a changed man and had found out his own way to cope with his shortcomings and scored an impressive 44 & 75 in a bouncy Perth wicket and followed it up with his maiden Test century at Adelaide shining brightly in the darkness of an Indian failure.
JOINING THE BIG LEAGUE:
To stay in contention for the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series, India had to chase a target of 321 inside 40 overs against Sri Lanka at Hobart. What transpired later was a day which is etched in the minds of every Indian cricket romantic and the day on which a promising talent stepped up his skills and stamped his legacy in the annals of cricketing folklore. Kohli went on to score a majestic 133* off 86 balls to pull an improbable victory and start a love for chasing targets with a robot like precision which remains unmatched.
THE ENGLISH DILEMMA & OVERSEAS TOURS :
Kohli went into the away Tests in England in a bid to add it to his ever-growing list of conquests but fared poorly in the overcast conditions and had no answers against the swinging Duke ball. He scored 134 in the 10 innings that he batted. He was particularly susceptible to the swinging ball around the off stump channel repeatedly edging it to the keeper or the slips. He was heavily criticised for his technique and for playing too far away from the body, fending for balls. He also had a really bad One Day series completing off the most miserable tour of his short career.
In the tour against South Africa Kohli batted at #4 for the first time and 119 & 96 at Johannesburg. He also had a good tour of New Zealand where he scored 214 runs in a 2 match Test series.
ASCENSION TO TEST CAPTAINCY:
With MS Dhoni ruled out with an injury Kohli was handed over the reins of captaincy in Adelaide. He scored 115, becoming the 4th Indian to score a century on Test captaincy debut. His defining moment as a captain and as a Test player came when India was set a target of 364 to be scored on the final day. Instead of playing out a tame draw Kohli pressed for an improbable win in testing conditions and scored a breathtaking 141 off just 175 balls putting up 185 runs for the third wicket with Murali Vijay. Though India went on to lose the after putting up a valiant fight, Virat Kohli's batting and his brave decision drew praise from all quarters.
Dhoni announced his retirement at the end of the Australia series and Kohli was appointed as the full-time captain. Kohli amassed a mammoth 692 runs in Tests against Australia.
WORLD CUP 2015 :
India had come off a forgettable tour of Australia losing everything on offer and much was expected of India's star player to help the team bring the cup back home and he started with a bang scoring a fine century against arch-rivals Pakistan and setting things in motion. But Kohli had a relatively quiet World Cup after that managing to get starts and playing the supporting role helping the team qualify for the knockouts by topping the table.
Kohli had a forgettable time at the middle during the knockout stage. He was particularly poor in the semifinals against Australia where he scored a single run off 13 balls before being dismissed by top-edging a short-pitched delivery by Mitchell Johnson and was held responsible for a meek Indian surrender in the big stage.
T20 :
He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe and adapted his technique to suit the demands of the fastest version of the game. He was particularly impressive in the World T20 2014 & 2016 where he single-handedly dragged the team into the later stages always to be eliminated by a superior opposition. He was awarded 2 consecutive Man of the Series Awards in World T20I's without being able to lay his hands on the elusive trophy. He is the fastest to 2000 runs in T20 international and held the #1 rank in the format for quite a considerable period of time. His average of 49 in the slam-bang version also points to how consistent he has been even in the shortest format.
IPL:
He was brought on a youth contract by Royal Challengers Bangalore and has been the only player in the history of the IPL to represent a single team in all seasons. He is the 2nd highest run scorer in the history of the IPL but has never been able to lift the IPL trophy.
During the 2016 session, Kohli amassed 973 runs in a single season with 4 centuries which was by far the most by a batsman in the history of the IPL.
BATTING STYLE :
He is a technically sound batsman with a heavy bottom hand grip and supple wrists which allows him to manoeuvre the balls into the gaps. He favours the onside more due to his natural bottom hand grip and the flick comes quite naturally to him. He is nimble-footed and is equally adept against pace and spin.
His most important gift is the range of shots that he has and his ability to pace his innings as per the demands of the situation. He is particularly strong through the midwicket and the cover region and his cover drive is a sight to behold.
MASTER OF CHASE:
Over the years Virat Kohli has become synonymous with chasing stiff targets with inhuman precision. After being asked what did he think while coming out to bat during the Hobart chase he replied: " He divided the chase down into two 20 over phases, so in that way, he knew he had to chase 160 during the first 20 and 160 during the next" and the execution was perfect. He has repeated this feat against the best of the teams and when the stakes are at their absolute peak.
ATTITUDE:
Virat Kohli is quite an emotional person and loves to display his emotions unabashedly. He is on your face aggressive kind of player and is always ready to give you a piece of his mind. He has been likened to playing the game in the Australian way a far cry from the old school sweet and plain Indian boys. He has also been termed as brash and arrogant my the arrogant by the media and former cricketers. And this attitude of his has helped him grow as a cricketer and become a world beater.
Whenever the opposition has tried to abuse or picks up a fight with Kohli he answers them with his bat scoring tons of runs and having the last laugh. He channels his aggression into excellence and runs thereby shutting the mouth of his opponents.
Kohli has mellowed down a lot from his initial aggressive days and with the burden of captaincy, he is focussing his energy on the more important aspect of leading his country to glory.
FITNESS:
Virat Kohli is primarily responsible for bringing the culture of fitness into the Indian dressing rooms thereby lifting a poor fielding side into the best in the business. He spends 2 hrs on a daily basis and 4 hrs during the off seasons in the gym. He loves lifting weights and cardio sessions along with the high altitude training which helps him convert the ones into twos even after he is tired. He also has a strict diet regime and follows it religiously.
He has also inspired his teammates to stay fit and follow a disciplined lifestyle which is surely yielding results with a fit India looking all the more menacing on the ground.
WAY AHEAD:
Whatever the future might hold Kohli is already a millennial legend busy breaking records by the minute and rewriting history books. His unprecedented success and quite an relatable attitude makes it all the more endearing. With the future of India in the best of hands the nation can sleep peacefully
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