Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian cricketer who currently captains the Indian team across formats. Kohli made his international debut against Sri Lanka in a One Day International (ODI) played at Dambulla on August 18, 2008. Since then he has gone on to break numerous records across formats and he is widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. As of March 2020, Kohli has amassed 7,240 runs in Test cricket, 11,867 runs in ODIs; and 2,794 runs in Twenty Twenty Internationals (T20Is). His average of 59.33 in ODIs is the highest ever in the format making him an all time ODI great. Moreover, he is the top run scorer in T20Is. Kohli has been the most prolific batsman across formats of his generation. Among Indian batsmen, he has achieved the best ever Test, ODI and T20I rating in the official ratings of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Currently Kohli tops the ODI rating while he is second behind Steve Smith of Australia in Test ratings. Kohli has received numerous awards for his stellar performances including the ICC awards for best cricketer for the years 2017 and 2018. He has also been honored by the Indian government for his contribution to Indian cricket. In 2018, he was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honor in India. Here are the 10 major achievements of Virat Kohli including his career statistics and records; and awards received by him.
* All stats in the video are as of March, 2020.
#1 HE WAS PART OF THE INDIAN TEAM WHICH WON THE 2011 WORLD CUP
On November 23, 2006, Virat Kohli made his first-class debut at the age of 18 playing for Delhi against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic first-class cricket tournament. The following month, Kohli, unfortunately lost his father. Nonetheless, he decided to play for his team against Karnataka on the day after his father’s death and went on to score 90. His commitment to his work at such a juncture and at such a young age was commendable. In February–March 2008, Kohli led the Indian team to victory at the 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Batting at number 3, he scored 235 runs in 6 matches in the tournament at an average of 47. Virat Kohli made his international debut for India in a One Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on August 18, 2008. He was 19 years of age then. Kohli soon cemented his spot in the Indian ODI team and he was selected for the 2011 World Cup in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. He scored a century in the very first match to become the first Indian batsman to score a century on World Cup debut. He went on to score 282 runs in the tournament at an average of 35.25. His most important contribution came in the final against Sri Lanka as he scored 35 runs in a crucial 83-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir. India went on to lift the World Cup for the second time; the first being the 1983 World Cup in England.
#2 KOHLI HAS THE HIGHEST EVER AVERAGE IN ODI CRICKET HISTORY
Virat Kohli went on to become one of the greats in ODI cricket. As of March, 2020, he has scored 11867 runs in 239 innings at an average of 59.33 and a strike rate of 93.25. Kohli has the highest average (min 5,000 runs) in the history of ODI cricket. The second batsman on the list, Michael Bevan, averages 53.58, which is around 6 points less than Kohli. He has scored 43 ODI centuries, which is the second most ever after Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 49. At his favored Number 3 position, Kohli has scored 9751 runs which is the second most after Ricky Ponting of Australia, who has scored 12662 runs at the position. Kohli’s average of 62.90 (min 5,000 runs) at Number 3 is way ahead of Kane Williamson, who is second on the list and averages 50.66. Kohli is the quickest batsman to reach 8,000; 9,000; 10,000; and 11,000 runs in ODI cricket. He has accomplished this in 175, 194, 205 and 222 innings respectively. Kohli has developed a reputation as a chase master in ODI cricket. He has scored 5,388 runs in successful run chases at an average of 96.21, which is the second highest after Mahendra Singh (M.S.) Dhoni. Moreover, his 22 hundreds is the most in successful run chases. Sachin is a distant second on the list with 14 centuries.
#3 HE IS CURRENTLY THE LEADING RUN SCORER IN T20I CRICKET
Virat Kohli made his Twenty Twenty International (T20I) debut on June 12, 2010 against Zimbabwe at Harare. He scored 26* (not out) in that match. Over time, he has established himself as one of the leading batsmen in T20Is. As of March 2020, Kohli has scored 2794 runs in T20Is at an average of 50.80 and a strike rate of 138.24. He is currently the leading run scorer in T20I cricket ahead of Rohit Sharma of India who has scored 2773 runs. He also has the highest T20I average (min 1,000 runs) with Babar Azam of Pakistan second on the list with an average of 50.72. Though he is yet to score a hundred in T20Is, his 24 fifties in the format are the most by anyone; and if you count 50+ scores, he is second on the list with Rohit Sharma having 25 50+ scores. Virat Kohli is also the fastest player to 2,000 runs in T20Is. He reached the landmark in 56 innings breaking Brendon McCullum’s record of 66 innings to reach 2,000 runs.
#4 HE HAS ACHIEVED THE HIGHEST EVER ICC TEST RATING BY AN INDIAN BATSMAN
Kohli made his debut in Test cricket on June 20, 2011 against West Indies at Kingston. He made 4 and 15 in his two innings. After struggling initially in Tests, Kohli went on to become one of the top batsmen in the world. As of March 2020, he has scored 7,240 runs in 86 Tests and 145 innings at an average of 53.62. He is third on the list of most runs among currently active players after Joe Root and David Warner. His average of 53.62 is the second best (min 5,000 runs) after Steve Smith, who averages 62.84; and his 27 Test centuries are the most among currently active players. After stellar performances in Tests in 2017 and 2018, Kolhi rose to 937 points in the ICC Cricket Test Ratings on August 22, 2018. This is the 11th highest rating ever achieved in the history of Test cricket and the highest for an Indian batsman. Kohli’s highest ODI rating is 911, which is the 6th highest overall and the highest for an Indian batsman. His highest T20I rating of 897 is the second highest overall after Aaron Finch of Australia.
#5 VIRAT KOHLI IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN CAPTAIN IN TEST MATCHES
After the retirement of M.S. Dhoni from Test cricket in 2014, Virat Kohli became the captain of the Test team of India. In early 2017, he became the limited-overs captain as well after Dhoni stepped down from the position. Though he has not won an ICC tournament as captain, Virat Kohli has been a very successful captain for India. When he took over, India were ranked No. 7 in ICC Rankings. Kohli led India became the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world in October 2016. Now, for more than 3 years, India have retained the top spot in the ICC rankings. Under Kohli, India have played 55 Tests, winning 33, losing 12 and having 10 draws. In terms of most wins, Kohli is the fifth most successful captain in Test history and the most successful Indian captain. Graeme Smith leads this list with 53 wins. Kohli has captained in 89 ODIs till March 2020; winning 62 and losing 24; while in T20Is, he has captained in 37 matches; winning 22 and losing 11.
#6 HE HAS SCORED THE MOST RUNS IN IPL CRICKET
Virat Kohli has also been one of the most prolific batsmen in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has played 177 IPL games and, in 169 innings, he has scored 5412 runs at an average of 37.84 and a strike rate of 131.61. As of March 2020, Kohli is the top run scorer in IPL cricket. Moreover, his 5 hundreds in IPL is the most after Chris Gayle of West Indies, who has scored 6 centuries. In the 2016 IPL season, Kohli scored 973 runs at an average of 81.08 with 4 centuries. This remains the highest runs scored by anyone in a single IPL season. Kohli has also been the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 2011. During the course of his captaincy, RCB has played 110 matches; winning 49 and losing 55. Till date, Kohli hasn’t been able to lead RCB to an IPL title.
#7 HE WAS THE PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT IN TWO T20 WORLD CUPS
Apart from the 2011 ODI World Cup that India won, Kohli has been part of two more World Cups in 2015 and 2019. In the 2015 World Cup in Australia, he was the third highest run scorer for India with 305 runs in 8 innings at an average of 50.83. In the 2019 World Cup in England, Kohli was the second highest run scorer for India with 443 runs in 9 innings at an average of 55.37. In both these World Cups, India was knocked out in the semi-finals. In T20Is, though Kohli hasn’t been part of a World Cup winning team, he has won the Man of the Tournament twice in the 2014 and the 2016 editions. In the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, Kohli was the top scorer with 319 runs in 6 innings at an average of 106.33 and a strike rate of 129.14. India reached the finals in this edition where they lost to Sri Lanka. In the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, Kohli was the second highest run scorer with273 runs in 5 innings at an average of 136.50 and a strike rate of 146.77. India lost to West Indies in the semis in this edition. In T20 World Cup cricket till now, Kohli has scored 777 runs at an average of 86.33 and a strike rate of 133.04 . He is currently the fourth highest run scorer in T20 World Cups in a list headed by Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka, who has scored 1016 runs.
#8 HE HOLDS THE RECORD OF THE FASTEST ODI CENTURY BY AN INDIAN
Kohli holds a plethora of other records, of which some are as follows. Kohli has scored more than a 1,000 runs in ODIs in a calendar year on seven occasions (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019), which is a record he shares with Tendulkar. Moreover, he is the second player to amass more than a 1,000 ODI runs in four successive years after Sourav Ganguly. Kohli is also the batsman to reach the 1,000 ODI run mark in a year in record time. In 2018, he reached the mark in 11 innings surpassing Amla, who had done so in 15 innings. In India’s 2017/18 tour of South Africa, Kohli scored 558 runs in six ODI innings at an average of 186.00 to become the highest ever run scorer in a bilateral ODI series. On October 16, 2013, in the second ODI of a series against Australia, Kohli reached his 100 in 52 balls to help India chase down a target of 360. This remains the fastest ODI century by an Indian. In test cricket, Kohli reached the 1,000 run mark in three successive years (2016 – 2018) making him one of six players to achieve the feat on three or more successive occasions.
#9 HE WON THE ICC AWARD FOR BEST CRICKETER FOR THE YEARS 2017 AND 2018
Virat Kohli is widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is a British cricket reference book known as the “bible of cricket”. Due to stellar performances in 2016, 2017 and 2018, Virat Kohli was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in all the three years. Apart from Don Bradman and Garfield Sobers, no other cricketer has won the award in three successive years. The International Cricket Council (ICC) awards started in 2004. Virat Kohli won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the best cricketer of the year for 2017 and 2018. Moreover, he won the ICC Test Player of the Year for 2018; and the ICC ODI Player of the Year for 2012, 2017 and 2018. Along with AB de Villiers of South Africa, Kohli’s three wins as ICC ODI Player of the Year is the most by anyone. Kohli has also been named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2012, 2014, 2016 (captain), 2017 (captain), 2018 (captain) and 2019 (captain); and the ICC Test Team of the Year in 2017 (captain), 2018 (captain) and 2019 (captain). Kohli swept the ICC awards in 2018 winning all the three major trophies.
#10 HE HAS BEEN AWARDED THE HIGHEST SPORTING HONOR IN INDIA
In all international cricket, Virat Kohli has scored 21,901 runs at an average of 56.15 with 70 centuries. In terms of average, no other batsman with more than 15,000 runs in all international cricket has an average above 50. Moreover, Kohli’s 70 hundreds is the third highest after Sachin Tendulkar (100) and Ricky Ponting (71). Due to his stupendous achievements over the course of his career, Virat Kohli has received various awards from the Indian government. In 2013, he was given the Arjuna Award for his sporting achievements. In 2017, he was honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India. The following year, he was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honor in India. Apart from these, Kohli is ranked as one of the world’s most famous athletes by the sports network ESPN; and one of the 100 most influential people in the world (2018) by the TIME magazine.
If you are interested in statistics, here are three articles which compare the performance of Virat Kohli with the other greats of his era like Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers in the last decade:-
TOP TEST BATSMAN OF THE DECADE (2010 – 2019)
TOP ODI BATSMAN OF THE DECADE (2010 – 2019)
TOP T20I BATSMAN OF THE DECADE (2010 – 2019)