Name of the Sportsperson: Virat Kohli
Discipline: Cricket
State: Delhi
Date of Birth: 05-11-1988
Achievements and Awards:
• Kohli came into prominence when he played for Delhi in a Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka on the day of his father's demise, saving his team at a crucial stage.
• He led the Indian team to only its second ever U-19 World Cup title triumph in 2008.
• A big turning point in his career came at an ‘Emerging Players Tournament’ in 2009 where Kohli helped India to lift the trophy and was the leading run-scorer (398 runs with two centuries and two fifties).
• In the Tri-nation series in Dhaka involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Kohli was the tournament top-scorer with 275 runs. Delhi lad took mere 24 innings to reach 1000 runs in ODI.
• He became the third Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina to score two centuries before turning 22.
Profile:
Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer who used to bat in the middle-order but now he bats in the first down. He plays his First-class cricket for Delhi and made his debut at this level in 2006. Against Tamil Nadu. Kohli played his first one-day international in 2008 against Sri Lanka. And made his debut in Test in 2011 against West Indies. He played his first T20 International match against Zimbabwe in 2010. He is known for his aggressive stroke play. In 2008, he was selected in the Indian squad for Sri Lanka’s tour after scoring a hundred in the Emerging Player’s Tournament in Australia in 2008.
In very first match against Sri Lanka he was out for 12 but scored 37 runs in low scoring second match, which India won. And he scored a decent 54, his first half-century in the fourth match against Sri Lanka which helped India win the series in Sri Lanka, first ever in Sri Lanka. Kohli got a chance to play in the Champions Trophy in 2009. In the fourth match against Sri Lanka in the Indian tour, he scored his first century in ODI which helped India win the series by 3-1 with a third wicket partnership of 224 runs. He became the fastest Indian to score 1000 runs in ODIs. And he became the first Indian to score a century in World Cup debut match. In 2010, he became the leading Indian run-scorer by making 995 runs in 25 matches including three centuries at an average of 47.38.
He scored 282 runs in the nine innings at an average of 35.25. His 83 run partnership was crucial in the run-chase in the final against Sri Lanka. In October 2011 against England, Kohli scored 270 runs with highest of 112* runs in the five match ODI series taking India to win the series by 5-0. He also performed well in the ODI series in which West Indies toured India and scored 243 runs with highest score of 117 runs and helped India win the series by 4-1. He also played in the Test tour of Australia in December, 2011 in which India lost to Australia by 4-0 but he was the only Indian to score a century in that series. In the CB series in 2, he was the only Indian batsman to score a century and was the India’s leading run scorer in the series with 373 runs which included two half-centuries and a century.
One can’t forget the run-chase by India in the crucial match against Sri Lanka of 321 in 36.4 overs in which Virat Kohli scored a fabulous 133 just off 86 balls and hitting 24 runs in an over of Lasith Malinga. He was awarded with Man of the Match in that match. He was given the job of Vice-Captain in Asia Cup 2012. In the fifth match of the Asia Cup, he scored his career best 183 just off 148 balls following the successful run-chase of 330, which helped India win the game but unluckily can’t take India to the Asia Cup’s final. As the captain of the India Under-19 team, Virat Kohli led it to a memorable U-19 World Cup triumph at Malaysia in 2008.
He started the U-19 World Cup campaign in style with a century against West Indies. Coming in at his favourite number 4 position Virat Kohli scored 235 runs in six matches at an impressive average of 47. During the tournament, his team strategy, including his bowling changes proved beneficial to the side and helped India win the World Cup, bringing him special credit. He began his List A career in the 2005-06 season and as of 2008, has played 14 matches and scored 408 runs, including three half-centuries, at this level.
Virat Kohli made his Twenty20 (T20) debut against Himachal Pradesh on April 3, 2007 and played five T20 matches, scoring a total of 179 runs with the top score of 76 before the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL). At the inaugural season, Virat Kohli was signed by the Bangalore Royal Challengers team and he played 13 IPL matches scoring 165 runs at a strike rate of 105.09. In 61 matches of IPL, he has scored 1275 runs at an average of 28.33 and at the strike-rate of 121.66 with highest score of 71 runs.
