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About Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli, an upcoming talent in Indian cricket, was born on November 5, 1988 in Delhi. He is a right-hand batsman, who usually bats in the lower middle-order and is also a right-arm medium-pace bowler.

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.

In 2008 Virat Kohli participated in the Emerging Players Tournament held in Australia and scored a brilliant century. Owing to his sterling performance in Australia, he was selected in the One Day International (ODI) team for India’s tour of Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli played his first ODI match against Sri Lanka in the 2008 Idea Cup. By scoring 54 runs in the fourth match, he helped India to win the match and the first ODI series against the Lankan team. In the five ODIs he has played so far, Virat Kohli has made 159 runs at an average of 31.80 with the highest score of 54.

On November 23, 2006, he made his First-class debut for the Delhi team in a match against Tamil Nadu. Virat Kohli scored 90 runs to save Delhi from the follow-on against Karnataka at the Ranji Trophy on December 19, 2006, the day of his father’s death. In the 16 First-class matches that he has played, Virat Kohli has made a total of 1,069 runs at a good batting average of 53.45. He has scored four centuries, including his highest score of 197 at this level in his cricket career.

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.

Virat Kohli regards Herschelle Gibbs, the famous South African cricketer, as his idol. Other than cricket, Leander Paes, the Indian tennis star and Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis player are his favourite sport personalities. He loves to play tennis and go on long drives during his spare time. Virat Kohli also enjoys hanging out in Barista and Barton Centre in Bangalore.

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