Indian captain and one of the greatest batsmen in modern era, Virat Kohli is celebrating his 32nd birthday today. Born on November 5, 1988, Kohli made his debut for India at the age of 19 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, and has been an integral part of the international setup since.
Having represented India in 86 Tests, 248 ODIs and 82 T20Is, Kohli's numbers in international cricket are staggering, to say the least. The Indian captain boasts of an average of over-50 in all the three formats of the game, and has scored over 11,000 runs in ODIs.
Kohli was the part of the Indian team which won the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. He took over the reigns of captaincy from MS Dhoni in the longest format of the game towards the end of 2014, and became India's captain across all formats in January 2017, when Dhoni stepped down from the position.
He has since led India to glorious victories at home and abroad -- the most prominent of those wins came in 2019 when India became the first team from Asia to win a Test series Down Under.
While India enjoyed many victories under Kohli's captaincy, the wait for an ICC trophy continues for him as captain. Under his leadership, India reached the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, and was knocked out in the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup.
The one thing for which Indian cricket will forever be in debt of Virat Kohli would be the fitness revolution he brought with him as the captain of the side. He raised the bars of fitness to once-unimaginable levels to match the requirements of highly dynamic nature of cricket in the 21st century. His time as the captain of the Indian team saw the Indian pace attack emerging as arguably the most lethal in the world, and it is no coincidence.
In the Indian Premier League, Virat Kohli has been representing Royal Challengers Bangalore since the inception of the tournament in 2008. He was appointed as the franchise' full-time captain in 2013. Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the history of IPL, having scored 5,872 runs in 191 matches so far.
While he is yet to lift the IPL title with RCB, he guided the side to the final of the tournament in 2016. In the current edition, the RCB is one of the four sides which qualified for the playoffs. Kohli will return to action on November 6 when his side takes on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator.
As Virat turns 32, cricketers, ex-cricketers and fans across the globe are pouring in their wishes for him. In the next 12 months, Virat Kohli faces multiple challenges as batsman and captain of the side as India embarks on a tour to Australia after the IPL, which begins on November 27. The team will take part in three ODIs, three T20Is, and four-match Test series (which will be a part of the World Test Championship). Kohli will also be leading the side in the prospected home series in England, which will be scheduled after the tour to Australia.
