Happy birthday, Virat Kohli: The Indian captain turns 29

Virat Kohli turns 29. Yes, he is only 29, and has 49 hundreds across formats. He is only 29, and already has over 15,000 runs to his name. To add more glory to his magnificent achievements, he is the only player who averages 50 in all formats of the games.

The ODI King

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Kohli made his debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2008. He opened the innings with his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir, adding 12 off 22. He followed that up with 37, 25, 54, 31*, and 3* in the series. A year later, at home, Kohli registered his maiden century against the same team. Since then, to leave you baffled, he has scored 31 more hundreds, and is at the second spot in the list of most ODI centuries — of course, only behind his idol Sachin Tendulkar. During a recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand, Kohli became the quickest to 9,000 runs in the format.

The real Test

Kohli did not have a promising Test debut, either. Playing against West Indies at Kingston, he managed 4 and 15. Given he followed that up with 0, 27, and 30, he was dropped for India’s tour of England 2011. However, for the persistence and will power Kohli is reputed for, he made amends and now has four double-hundreds. He ranks sixth ICC Test Rankings for batsmen.

The fastest player in the shortest format

In 54 T20Is Kohli has amassed 1,943 runs, including 18 fifties. During the second T20I against New Zealand at Rajkot, Kohli became the second-highest run-scorer in the format.

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Captain Fantastic

Barring the loss in the only T20I against West Indies early this year, Kohli has not tasted defeat in a series. He has taken India to victory on the Sri Lanka soil twice. His team then won a Test series in the West Indies. And then came the long and gruelling home season: he thrashed New Zealand, England, Australia, and Bangladesh. Thanks to his remarkable leader that India sit atop in ICC Test Rankings.

The IPL champ

Kohli is the second-highest run-scorer in Indian Premiere League (IPL). Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore since the event’s inception, Kohli has scored 4,418 runs at 37.4, including 4 hundreds and 30 half-centuries. In fact Kohli is the only player to have scored over 900 runs in a season.

It seems yesterday that the young and fearless Kohli led India to victory in 2008 U-19 World Cup. It is only been a decade’s journey in international cricket, but Kohli is known to endure whatever is thrown at him to shape his destiny the way even the greater men could not.