VIRAT KOHLI- THE EVOLUTION

To become a good player, you need talent. To become a great player, you need an attitude like Kohli. – Sunil Gavaskar

The greatest cricket player in today’s time; Virat Kohli. He has inspired many a players and taken the cricket world by storm. The capital of India, Delhi produced the best player of his era. Virat Kohli all of 30 has made heads turn with his trailblazing ways. He started playing cricket in his gully, like any other quintessential middle class Indian kid. His playing caught the eyes of his neighbours and parents alike, he was soon enrolled in a cricket academy for training. His coach exclaimed it was difficult to take him off the pitch even after practice.

Kohli started his formal cricketing career with the Delhi under 15 teams in October 2002 for the Polly Umrigar Trophy. He scored 72 runs with an average of 34.40 and was the highest run getter for his team. Next year, he became the captain of the team for the same trophy and scored a whopping 390 runs in 5 innings. The Delhi under 15 teams saw a number of wins under his leadership.
Kohli was chosen in the India under 19 team in the year 2006 for the tour of England. He performed well with the Indians went on to win the series.
In the same year, Kohli made his debut in first-class cricket for Delhi and scored 10 in his debut innings. It was during this time that his father died of brain stroke. Kohli’s commitment towards cricket and his professionalism superseded his personal tragedy. He decided to play for his team against Karnataka a day after his father’s demise. Kohli then went on to play the T-20 format for the Delhi team which earned him recognition and soon a place in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team for $30,000 on a youth contract.
The Indian Cricket Team JourneyIn 2008, Kohli was taken in the Indian Cricket ODI team for the tour of Srilanka and the Champions Trophy to Pakistan. He scored his first fifty in the fourth match, at an age of 19. Kohli was taken as a replacement for an injured Shikhar Dhawan for the unofficial test tour to Australia where he batted once and scored 49. In 2008, during India’s England tour, although Kohli was a part of the team, he did not get a chance to play in the team due to the presence of Tendulkar and Sehwag. He was also selected in the four-team Emerging Players Tournament in Australia in 2009 where his performance impressed the world.
Kohli started to be taken in most of the series that India played around this time but was taken more as a replacement of injured players rather than being taken as a permanent and indispensable player. The feat with IPL, however, continued where Kohli continued to play exceptionally well and earn accolades.
In 2010, since Tendulkar was rested from the team, Kohli found a chance to play in all the 5 matches of the tri-nation ODI tournament in Bangladesh. In the match against Bangladesh, when India while chasing 297 was struggling at 51/3, Kohli scored 91 to help India win the match. Kohli played exceptionally well becoming the highest runner in the series and became the third batsman in the world to score two ODI centuries before their 22nd birthday, the first two being Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina. He was praised for his outstanding performance, especially by the Indian captain M.S. Dhoni.
Kohli was named as the vice-captain in the tri-series against Srilanka and Zimbabwe 2010 itself and there was no looking back. He became the fastest Indian batsman to reach 1000 runs in ODI cricket. Although he struggled with his form sometimes, but his perseverance earned him a permanent spot in the Indian team. He played in the International World Cup and was one of the main players who steered India to victory after 28 years.
Kohli however, earned the tag of an ODI player due to his high run rates and was not thought to be a Test player by the experts of cricket. He proved everybody wrong when he made 132 in the test tour of Australia, 2011. With his consistent performances and aggressive style, he was chosen unanimously as the captain for tests when Dhoni retired from the 5 day format in the 2014/15 series against Australia.
The records
Kohli started a series of records with being the third batsman in the world scoring 1000 ODI runs before turning 22. In 2013, Kohli became the captain of the Indian cricket team for the triangular series in West Indies after Dhoni was injured and found unfit to play. In the second match of the tournament, Kohli scored his first hundred as a captain scoring 102 off 83 balls. In the seven-match ODI series against Australia, Kohli hit the third fastest ODI century, crossing the 100 run mark in 61 balls. In the two-match Test series against West Indies, which is memorable as the last Test series of Tendulkar, Kohli equaled Viv Richard’s record of being the fastest batsman to get 5000 runs in ODI.
Virat Kohli has attributed his success to his coach Rajkumar Sharma and the guidance he received from former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi. Such an unbelievable feat of success has not been able to sweep Kohli off the grounds. He remains a very humble person, a true role model for youths of India. Recently, he has been rated 8th in ESPN’s top 10 most popular sportsmen in the world being preceded by sportsmen like Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer etc. And this is where he belongs.

Let’s take a look at his long list of records:
• First cricketer to be awarded the top three ICC awards (Cricketer of the year, Test cricketer of the year and ODI cricketer of the year) in a single year.
Fastest century
• Fastest century by an Indian cricketer in ODIs (52 balls).
Milestones
• Fastest Indian to reach 1,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and third fastest in the world to reach 5,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 7,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest player in the world to reach 8,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest player in the world to reach 9,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest player in the world to reach 10,000 runs in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 10 centuries in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 15 centuries in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 20 centuries in ODIs.
• Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 25 centuries in ODIs.
• Fastest in the world to reach 30 centuries in ODIs.
• Fastest in the world to reach 35 centuries in ODIs.
• Second fastest in the world to reach 1,000 runs in T20Is.
• Fastest in the world to reach 15,000 international runs.
• Joint fastest batsman with Hashim Amla to reach 50 centuries across all forms of international cricket (348 innings).
• Only batsman in history to average more than 50 in Tests, ODIs and T20Is simultaneously; also possesses the highest combined average across all formats among Test players who have played in at least two formats.
• Highest historic rating points in the ICC rankings by an Indian batsman in Tests (937 points), ODIs (911 points) and T20Is (897 points) – achieved on 23 August 2018, 16 February 2018 and 7 September 2014 respectively.
• Fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 17,000 runs in international cricket (363).
• Crossed 900 ratings points in the ICC rankings in both Tests and ODIs – one amongst five batsmen to have done so and only the second batsman after AB De Villiers to do it simultaneously.
• First batsman to score 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series.
• Fastest in the world to score 2,000 runs in terms of innings in T20Is (56).
• First Indian cricketer to score three successive centuries in ODIs.
Most runs in a calendar year/series
• Most ODI runs in 2010 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2011 by any cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2012 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2013 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2014 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2016 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most Test runs in 2012 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most Test runs in 2015 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most Test runs in 2016 by an Indian cricketer.
• Most combined international runs scored in a year by an Indian cricketer – 2818 international runs in 2017.
• Most runs scored by an Indian cricketer in a three-match Test series – 610 runs against Sri Lanka in 2017.
• Most ODI runs in 2017 by any cricketer.
• Most runs in a bilateral ODI series by any cricketer – 558 runs against South Africa in 2018.
• Most runs by an Indian batsman in a calendar year in overseas Tests – 1138 in 2018.
• Most Test runs in 2018 by any cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2018 by any cricketer.
Captaincy records
• Most consecutive wins in Test series (9) as a captain from 2015–2017 (equal with Ricky Ponting from 2005–2008).
• First batsman to score three centuries in his first three innings as Test captain. He is also the second Test captain to score centuries in his first two Test innings after Greg Chapell.
• First Indian Test captain to score a double century overseas.
• First Indian Test captain to score two or more double centuries.
• Fastest captain to score 1000 ODI runs.
• First ever batsman to score double centuries in four consecutive Test series.
• Fastest captain to score 2000 ODI runs.
• First Indian captain to score a hundred and a duck in the same Test.
• First captain to score 10 international hundreds in a calendar year.
• Most Test centuries as a captain of India (12).
• Most double centuries by a captain in Tests (6).
• Most centuries (11) by a captain in a calendar year (2017).
• Most runs as captain of India in Tests.
• Most ODI centuries as a captain of India (13).
• First Test captain to score centuries in each game of a three-match Test series.
• Fastest captain to score 3000 ODI runs.
• First captain to score three successive centuries in ODIs.
• First Indian and Asian captain to win at least one Test in South Africa, England and Australia.