virat-kohli

[virat-kohli]

Kohli made his Test debut in 2011.[6] He reached the number one spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time in 2013.[7] He has won Man of the Tournament twice at the ICC World Twenty20 (in 2014 and 2016). He also holds the world record of being the fastest to 23,000 international runs.[8]

Kohli has been the recipient of many awards– most notably the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Men's Cricketer of the Decade): 2011–2020; Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year) in 2017 and 2018; ICC Test Player of the Year (2018); ICC ODI Player of the Year (2012, 2017, 2018) and Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World (2016, 2017 and 2018).[9] At the national level, he was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2013, the Padma Shri under the sports category in 2017[10] and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sporting honour in India, in 2018.[11] He is ranked as one of the world's most famous athletes by ESPN[12] and one of the most valuable athlete brands by Forbes.[13] In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[14] In 2020, he was ranked 66th in Forbes list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world for the year 2020 with estimated earnings of over $26 million.[15]

Early years

In August 2008, Kohli was included in the Indian ODI squad for tour of Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Prior to the Sri Lankan tour, Kohli had played only eight List A matches.[46] So, his selection was called a "surprise call-up".[47] During the Sri Lankan tour, as both first-choice openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were injured, Kohli batted as a makeshift opener throughout the series.[48] He made his international debut, at the age of 19, in the first ODI of the tour and was dismissed for 12.[49] He made his first ODI half century, a score of 54, in the fourth match.[49] He had scores of 37, 25 and 31 in the other three matches.[49] India won the series 3–2 which was India's first ODI series win against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.[50][51]

After the postponement of 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.[52] He batted only once in the two-match series, and scored 49 in that innings.[53] Later that month in September 2008, he played for Delhi in the Nissar Trophy against SNGPL (winners of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy from Pakistan) and top-scored for Delhi in both innings, with 52 and 197.[54][55] The match was drawn but SNGPL won the trophy on first-innings lead.[55] In October 2008, Kohli played for Indian Board President's XI in a four-day tour match against Australia.[56]

Kohli, after recovering from a minor shoulder injury, returned to the national team replacing the injured Gautam Gambhir in the Indian squad for the tri-series in Sri Lanka.[57] He batted at number 4 for India in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy because of an injury to Yuvraj Singh.[58] In the group match against the West Indies, Kohli scored an unbeaten 79 in India's successful chase of 130 and was awarded man of the match award.[59] Kohli played as a reserve batsman in the seven-match home ODI series against Australia, appearing in two matches.[60] He found a place in the home ODI series against Sri Lanka in December 2009 and scored 27[61] and 54 in the first two ODIs before making way for Yuvraj who regained fitness for the third ODI. However, Yuvraj's finger injury recurred leading to him being ruled out indefinitely.[62][63] Kohli returned to the team in the fourth ODI at Kolkata and scored his first ODI century–107 off 114 balls–sharing a 224-run partnership for the third wicket with Gambhir, who made his personal best score of 150.[49][64] India won by seven wickets to seal the series 3–1.[49] The man of the match was awarded to Gambhir who gave the award to Kohli.[64]

Tendulkar was rested for the tri-nation ODI tournament in Bangladesh in January 2010,[65] which enabled Kohli to play in each of India's five matches.[66] Against Bangladesh, he scored 91 to help secure a win after India collapsed to 51/3 early in their run-chase of 297.[49][67] In the next match against Sri Lanka, Kohli ended unbeaten on 71 to help India win the match with a bonus point having chased down their target of 214 within 33 overs.[68] The next day, he scored his second ODI century, against Bangladesh, bringing up the mark with the winning runs.[69] He became only the third Indian batsman to score two ODI centuries before their 22nd birthday, after Tendulkar and Suresh Raina.[70] Kohli was much praised for his performances during the series[71][72] in particular by the Indian captain Dhoni.[73] Although Kohli made only two runs in the final against Sri Lanka in a four-wicket Indian defeat,[74] he finished as the leading run-getter of the series with 275 runs from five innings at an average of 91.66.[75] In the three-match ODI series at home against South Africa in February, Kohli batted in two games and had scores of 31 and 57.[49]

Rise through the ranks

Raina was named captain and Kohli vice-captain for the tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in May–June 2010, as many first-choice players skipped the tour.[76] Kohli made 168 runs at an average of 42.00 including two fifties,[77] but India suffered three defeats in four matches and crashed out of the series. During the series, Kohli became the fastest Indian batsman to reach 1,000 runs