Virat Kohli joined the West Delhi Cricket Academy at the early age of 9. He dedicated his life to cricket and was selected for the under-15 age category for the Delhi team. He started to earn money from state matches and chose cricket as a career.
Virat Kohli success story – His Childhood days:
Virat Kohli was born on November 5, 1988, in New Delhi. He was raised in a middle-class family, where his father is a criminal lawyer, his mother is a housewife, and he has one older brother and sister.
He went to school in Delhi. At 9, Virat Kohli joined the West Delhi Cricket Academy. He practiced cricket at the academy and played many matches. During his 9th grade, he shifted to Saviour Convent to practice cricket. He is a diehard fan of cricket.
How does Virat Kohli get into cricket?
Virat Kohli started to practice cricket when he was 9. He dedicated his life to cricket and was selected for the under-15 age category. Virat stated in an interview that he began earning match fees while playing state cricket.
So that’s when I realized that if you keep going up, I might be able to make a career out of this at some point because you’re dedicating your life to it. And my only goal was to give everything I had and see what happened.
Kohli played for the Delhi team from 2002 to 2003 and was captain from 2003-2004 for the Polly Umrigar Trophy. Then, he was selected for the under-17 categories of the Vijay Merchant Trophy from 2003 to 2004.
To everyone’s surprise, Kohli finished the match with the highest score of 757 runs from 7 matches and won the cup.
Virat Kohli made his first debut with the Tamil Nadu team and scored ten runs in his first innings in November 2006. This news spread like wildfire, and he became the most promising player in December 2006, when he batted against Karnataka.
Virat scored 90 runs within a day of his father’s death. Here, he shows his passion for cricket. Finally, Virat Kohli scored 257 runs in 6 matches.
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How does Virat’s family support him?
Virat’s family supported him a lot in his cricket training. He was selected for the under-15 and 17 age categories. He played matches, became captain, and won the cup for the team in both categories.
Virat’s dad needed to give some money for the state team selection, but he was against it. He doesn’t want his son to grab another person’s opportunity.
His dad spoke to the coach directly, saying, “If Kohli is selected on merit, I will support him, but I won’t bribe any penny for his selection.” This incident broke Virat’s heart, but he never gave up. He tried his best and started to play.
He was in the match, and his dad died from a stroke. Virat Kohli went to the funeral, started his U-17 category match, and scored 90 runs. He became the center of attention.
His dad passed away in 2006, and he was never fed up with this incident.
After that, he started to play vigorously and was selected for the U-19 category. His dedication made him enter the cricket world. As his father said, on his merits, Virat Kohli was selected for the Indian team.
What led Virat to success?
In early 2008, Virat Kohli won the Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Then he joined the Indian team and played a match against Sri Lanka as an opener in August 2008.
Virat scored more runs as an open batsman, which led to the match’s victory. Kohli was often played as a substitute for injured players but also proved his play against opponents.
Kohli then traveled to Australia in 2009 for the Emerging Players tournament, demonstrating his ability across all bowling attacks.
He won the match against South Africa with 398 runs from seven innings, including two centuries and two fifties, and was named man of the match.
Tendulkar stopped playing in the ODI tournament in Bangladesh in January 2010. It has become an opening opportunity for Virat Kohli to participate in all five of India’s matches ODI in 2010.
At 22, he became the third Indian batsman to score two ODI centuries after Tendulkar and Suresh Raina. Virat Kohli was India’s highest ODI run-scorer for three successive calendar years – 2010, 2011, and 2012 – and won ICC ODI cricketer in 2012.
Milestones of Virat Kohli in cricket:
Due to an injury to captain MS Dhoni, Kohli was named stand-in captain for the first Test. Virat Kohli emerged as an important performer for India during the 2015 World Cup. Kohli, who became full-time Test captain in 2017, led a young team to Sri Lanka without Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Virat became India’s captain for the Cricket World Cup in April 2019, scoring five successive fifty-plus scores in the playoffs. India lost the semi-final against New Zealand, despite Kohli’s being out for only one run.
In the second Test against South Africa in October 2019, Kohli captained India for the 50th time in Test cricket, becoming the first batsman in Indian history to obtain seven double centuries.
Having lost the 2021 ICC World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June 2021, it was Kohli’s third failure as captain in the ICC tournament finals.
Kohli stated in September 2021 that he would resign as India’s T20 captain following the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Kohli was acquired by the franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore, for $30,000. He was captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for eight seasons. To his fate, he never won a trophy one time.
After 1019 days, Virat Kohli scored his 71st century in an international match. In the dead rubber match of the Asia Cup 2022 against Afghanistan, Kohli, who earned his final century on November 23, 2019, against Bangladesh, added a warm 100.
In the Super 4 match of the 2022 Asia Cup T20 event, Team India faced Afghanistan, and Virat Kohli achieved his first T20I century for the Men in Blue. For the right-handed batsman to attain the milestone, 53 balls were needed.
With his 122*, Kohli became the 11th Indian batsman to record a century in the format.
This century is the highest score by an Indian batter in the format, the previous being 118 by Rohit Sharma, overall, the 13th highest by any player in the format.
Kohli has the same batting style as Sachin and is called Tendulkar’s “successor.” Virat has sponsorship deals with various major brands, including Audi, Manyavar, Puma, Wrogn, MRF tyres, and many more.
Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to appear on Forbes’ list of the world’s top 100 most prestigious athletes.
Latest and Upcoming Achievement of Virat Kohli
- Record-Equalling Century: Virat Kohli displayed sheer brilliance, scoring his 49th ODI century against Sri Lanka, matching Sachin Tendulkar’s record. He’s just one ton away from breaking the legendary record!
- Leading Run-Scorer: Kohli isn’t just stopping at centuries! With a whopping 569 runs in the World Cup, including two centuries and four fifties, he’s the second-highest run-scorer, trailing behind Marnus Labuschagne.
- Unbeaten Streak: Kohli’s leadership has been instrumental in India’s unbeaten run. India won all eight matches, with Kohli contributing with at least one fifty in every game. His consistency is unmatched!
- Tendulkar’s Record in Sight: The excitement doesn’t end there! Kohli’s 49 ODI centuries bring him tantalizingly close to Tendulkar’s record. Will he make history in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023? Stay tuned!