“When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”

Just as Virat Kohli started his cricketing career at higher levels, he had to deal with a big personal loss after the death of his father. Despite that, Kohli, showing his true mettle, decided to play a day after his father’s death and went on to score a match-saving 90 against Karnataka.

Since then, he has never looked back.

Virat Kohli’s Biography and Early Career

Emerging as a chubby and flamboyant youngster, Kohli was often touted as an arrogant young kid. He was in a totally different mould, unlike the culture in the Indian cricket team before.

He was aggressive, and even in his early days, he never backed away from indulging in needling the opposition. Just like Rahul Dravid said in an interview, “Needling the opposition gets the best out of him, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.”

Born on November 5, 1988, in Delhi to a Punjabi family, Kohli was interested in cricket from a very early age. He started holding a cricket bat at the ripe age of 3 years and would ask his father to bowl at him. Kohli’s father admitted him to an academy where he trained under the watchful guidance of Rajkumar Sharma.

Kohli went on to play for Delhi Under-15 in October 2002 and was part of the 2002/03 Polly Umrigar Trophy. He finished as the leading run-getter for his team and was appointed as the captain in the next season.

He smashed 390 runs in just 5 matches, including two centuries and two half-centuries. He kept churning out runs consistently, and in the 2003-04 Vijay Merchant Trophy, Kohli was at his staggering best, scoring 470 runs in just 4 matches.

Following his consistent run at the junior domestic level, Kohli was selected for the India Under-19 squad for the tour of England in July 2006. India won the series, and Kohli emerged as a promising talent, earning accolades.

Virat Kohli’s Domestic Career

Virat Kohli's domestic career started in 2006, when he made his First-Class debut for DDCA against Tamil Nadu in November. The same year, Kohli lost his father. Nonetheless, the brave boy represented his state side that day.

Moreover, after dominating at this level, Kohli was appointed as the skipper of the Indian U-19 team for the 2008 World Cup. Kohli not only impressed with the bat but also led India to a sensational tournament victory. Kohli scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47, which included a century against the West Indies.

Following his heroics in the U19 World Cup, Kohli bagged an IPL contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Continuing his rise, he became a strong prospect for the Indian Cricket Team. Thus, national duty caused him to disappear from the domestic set-up after his last appearance for Delhi in 2012.

However, after the BCCI made domestic participation compulsory for contracted players unless they are injured or on national duty, Virat Kohli returned to the Ranji Trophy in January 2025 after a 12-year absence, playing for Delhi against Railways. The same year, Kohli grabbed headlines, lighting up the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.

Virat Kohli’s Test Career (2011-2025)

The term ‘Legendary’ is what best describes Virat Kohli’s Test career! Kohli made his Test debut for India on June 20, 2011, against the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Marking a sedate start, he only scored 4 runs in his first innings and 15 in the second.

In the next series in Australia, Kohli’s technique was questioned again after two disappointing outings in the first two games. However, the then skipper, MS Dhoni, persisted with him, and the result was there for everyone to see in the next two matches. He smashed 75 and 44 in the next Test in Perth and followed it up with a maiden Test century in Adelaide when most of the other experienced batters failed.

However, Kohli's 2014 England tour was a disastrous, career-low phase, during which he struggled immensely and scored just 134 runs in 5 matches. He battled technical issues and mental pressure, but it became a pivotal learning experience. 

The phase prompted significant technical adjustments (such as standing outside the crease) and resilience, which led to his later dominance. Kohli admitted to feeling depressed and alone during the slump.

Virat Kohli became India's Test captain in December 2014, making his debut in the Adelaide Test against Australia after MS Dhoni's retirement.

Going back to Australia for the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he had a sensational time with the bat, accumulating 692 runs in 4 matches, including 4 centuries.

Despite starting off his Test career on a rather sedate note, Kohli has also taken his Test record to a different level. In 2017, Kohli became the first batter in Test cricket history to smash 4 double hundreds in 4 consecutive Test series.  

The period from 2016 to 2019 was a dominant phase in Virat Kohli’s Test career, marked by massive run tallies (e.g., 1215 runs in 2016, 1059 in 2017) and a stellar year in 2018 (ICC Test Cricketer of the Year).

Notably, 2020 marked the end of Kohli’s peak era. Since then, Kohli has experienced significant highs and lows in his Test career. 

Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, at the age of 36, concluding a 14-year career where he played 123 Tests, scoring as many as 9230 runs, and became India's most successful Test captain. 

Indeed, Kohli will always be remembered as the best Test leader the Men in Blue ever had. As India's most successful Test captain, Kohli led in 68 matches with 40 wins, transforming the team with fitness and an aggressive mindset, and achieving historic overseas series wins, especially in Australia.

Virat Kohli’s ODI Career

Soon after breaking into the action, Kohli was included in the squad for the ODI series in Sri Lanka. With regular openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag injured, Kohli played as a makeshift opener. Making his ODI debut on 18 August 2008, he scored a solitary fifty in his 5 outings. 

In 2009, Kohli smashed his maiden ODI international century against Sri Lanka in Kolkata. Along with Gautam Gambhir, Kohli shared a sensational stand and helped India win the match from a precarious situation. Gambhir showed a great gesture by awarding his Man of the Match Award to Kohli.

Soon, Kohli made his World Cup debut in 2011, joining an elite list of cricketers with a hundred on his World Cup debut in the opener against Bangladesh. However, his breakthrough ODI knock came in 2012 when he thrashed the Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park in Hobart and helped India chase down a stiff target of 321 in just the 37th over.

Not even a month had passed, but Kohli played yet another innings for the ages, smashing 183 runs versus Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2012. While chasing 330 runs, India had lost Gautam Gambhir early, but Kohli once again soaked up the pressure, doing the bulk of the scoring all by himself, leading India to a famous win in Mirpur.

By 2015, Kohli had already established himself as arguably the greatest ODI batter. Over the years, Kohli has evolved into a “chase master” in limited-overs cricket, and his exploits, especially in 50-over cricket, have simply reached a different level.

In early 2017, he replaced MS Dhoni as the limited-overs captain as well. But his captaincy tenure was cut short, with Rohit Sharma replacing him as the full-time white-ball captain in late 2021.

After giving up the captaincy, Kohli resurged as a batter. The 2023 Cricket World Cup witnessed the revival of ‘The King’. Although India lost the final to Australia, where Kohli scored a fifty, there was no stopping him in the tournament.

He scored 765 runs in the tournament, the most by a batter in a single edition of an ODI World Cup. He smashed three centuries, including the one in the semi-final against New Zealand. It took him to his 77th international hundred and 50th in the ODI format, helping him surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries in front of the legend himself.

For his phenomenal run, Kohli was named the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2023. In the same tournament, Kohli overtook his idol Sachin Tendulkar to become the first player in history to score 50 ODI hundreds.

Virat Kohli’s T20I Career (2010-2024)

Virat Kohli’s T20I career is marked by incredible consistency and record-breaking performances. On June 12, 2010, Kohli made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe during the first T20I of the two-match series at Harare. Interestingly, Kohli started his career in the shortest format of the game as vice-captain under Suresh Raina’s leadership.

The 21-year-old in his maiden T20I showcased some promise. Chasing 112, India struggled at 4/48 when Virat stepped in. Throughout the chase, Kohli served as an anchor, showcasing right and calculated aggression, partnering with his senior, Yusuf Pathan.

Throughout his career, Kohli has played many remarkable knocks. However, his 82* against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup holds a special place in the hearts of every Indian cricket fan, and maybe every cricket fan. India went into the final three overs needing 48 runs to complete a chase of 160.

But they had the best name for the occasion on the crease. Like the 27th letter of the English alphabet. Thanks to Kohli, in front of more than 90,000 fans at the MCG, India prevailed over Pakistan in a nerve-racking finish.

Kohli was named in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad, and although he didn’t have the best of the tournament with the bat, he came good when it mattered the most - in the final. Kohli scored 76 off 59 and helped India post a score which the bowlers later defended.

Kohli was adjudged player of the match in the final, and in his post-match interview, he announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game.

Kohli finished his T20I career with 4188 runs from 125 matches. The batter scored a century and 38 half-centuries. Virat Kohli’s highest T20I score of 122 came against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2023.

Virat Kohli’s IPL Career

Is Virat Kohli loyal? Well, his extensive journey with RCB is a testament to unwavering loyalty.

Following his heroics in the junior World Cup, Kohli bagged an IPL contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and was bought at his base price of INR 12 Lakhs. The Delhi boy has been with the Bangalore-based team through thick and thin. He led the side from 2013 to 2021, during which he guided them to the 2016 final.

That same year, he scored a record 973 runs, which is still the most runs scored in a single IPL edition. The former RCB captain, who is the only player with over 8000 IPL runs, has also scaled incredible heights in international cricket. 

Life came full circle when the Virat Kohli and RCB won their maiden IPL title in 2025, after the ‘never-ending’ 18-year-long wait.

During the victory season, Kohli amassed 657 runs, with 73* his highest score in 2025. Opening the innings throughout the season, Kohli had an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71. It might not have been the best edition for him as a batter, however, with the title win, the 18th edition of the cash-rich tournament turned out to be the most memorable for the legend.

Virat Kohli’s Captaincy Career (2014-2022)

Virat Kohli’s captaincy record shows that he is, inarguably, one of the finest leaders India has ever produced. His captaincy style is somewhat different from that of other skippers. He has always believed in playing a brand of cricket that is dominant and aggressive.

Before succeeding MS Dhoni as the captain of the Indian Test team, Virat Kohli had already become one of the most important and influential players. In what came as a shock retirement of Dhoni in India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15. Thus, there was only one player who could carry on as the skipper for the remaining matches in the test series, and that was Virat Kohli. He made his captaincy debut on 9th December in the same BGT edition.

Dhoni also later stepped down as the team’s T20 and ODI captain in early 2027, and the BCCI didn’t have to look long for the Indian Cricket Team’s full-time captain across all formats. Virat Kohli was appointed captain of the Indian Cricket Team and changed India’s style of play for the next 8 years.

Looking into Virat Kohli’s stats as the captain: he has led the Men in Blue in a total of 68 Tests winning 40 and losing only 17. Thus, Kohli holds the record for the most wins as India’s Test captain with an impressive win percentage of 58.82%.

In white-ball formats, Kohli has captained in 95 ODIs, winning 65 and losing 27, and led in 50 T20Is to win 30 out of those. While his captaincy records show his leadership prowess, Kohli, as a captain, failed to win an ICC trophy in his tenure. 

In the Indian Premier League, Kohli has captained the Bangalore-based franchise 143 times, with 66 wins and 70 losses.

Virat Kohli’s Awards and Accolades

Over the past few years, Kohli has climbed the ladder and emerged as one of the greatest cricketers in the game’s history. From ‘cheeku’ to the ‘chase master’, Virat Kohli’s journey and his exploits have been exceptional.

In his remarkable career, Kohli has achieved several accolades, including the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (2011–2020), ICC Cricketer of the Year (2017 and 2018), and ICC Spirit of Cricket (2019). Apart from that, he has been awarded the following National awards: Arjuna Award (2013), Padma Shri (2017), and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (2018).

Last but definitely not the least, the Virat Kohli Pavilion is a dedicated section at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium (formerly Feroz Shah Kotla), named to honour Indian cricket star Virat Kohli for his extraordinary career and journey from a local Delhi boy to a global icon, serving as a symbol of inspiration, hard work, and fulfilling dreams for aspiring cricketers. 

(As of February 2026)