Virat Kohli at 31: The stats Indian skipper broke since last birthday

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Indian skipper Virat Kohli turned 31 on Tuesday. Born on November 5, 1988, Kohli made his international debut against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in 2008, the same year he had led the under-19 side to World Cup triumph. 11 years, two months and two weeks later, Kohli is not just the captain of the Indian cricket team, but is hailed as one of the modern-era greats. And on his 31st birthday, we take a look at all the records that Kohli broke since his 30th birthday en route to becoming a year wiser.

December 10: Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead his nation to a win in the opening match of a Test series in Australia. Of the 11 previous times that India had visited the land Down Under, they lost the opening match nine times and remaining two ended in a draw, Kohl's India had defeated Australia by 31 runs in Adelaide. Among the other records that he managed at the Adelaide Oval, Kohli became the fastest to score 1000 Test runs for India against Australia. He also became the only Indian skipper to amass 2000 Test runs in away matches and the first Indian captain to score 2000 Test runs both in India and on foreign soil. 

December 16: Kohli notched up his 25th Test century on day 3 of the second Test against Australia, en route to his score of 123. With the ton, he equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of most centuries by an Indian in Australia. Kohli had one in Adelaide in 2012 and three others in his tour in 2014/15.  He also became the second fastest cricketer to score 25 Test centuries as he reached the milestone in his 127th innings.

December 30: With an emphatic 137-run win against Australia in the third Test at the MCG, Kohli's India did not just retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the Delhi Dasher became the first Indian captain to win two Test matches in Australia. He equalled Sourav Ganguly's record with the victory, of most overseas Test wins as an Indian captain (11) and both had six victories outside Asia. Kohli also became the third Indian skipper to guide India to four Test match wins outside India after 2004 and 2010.

2018 end: Kohli ended the year with 2375 runs across formats, the third highest-ever in a calendar year. He also amassed 1138 of the total runs on overseas soil -- the most by an Indian surpassing Rahul Dravid. However, he fell 75 runs short of former South African captain Graeme Smith's tally.

January 7: Kohli became the first Indian skipper to guide the nation to a series win in Australia.

January 15: Kohli scored his 39th ODI century in the second game against Australia and subsequently became the 11th highest run-getter in the format in the world. It was also Kohli's sixth ODI ton against Australia and fifth Down Under. Only Sachin (9) and Rohit Sharma (7) have scored more ODI tons against the Aussies. It was also his 63rd international century as he overtook Kumar Sangakkara to stand third in the all-time list behind Sachin (100) and Ponting (71).

January 18: Kohli became the first Indian captain to guide the national side to an unbeaten campaign across formats in Australia.

January 22: Kohli became the first cricketer in the history of the sport to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards following an impressive 2018.

March 5: With his 40th ODI ton, in second match against Australia at home, Kohli equalled Sachin's tally of four hundreds against the Aussies in India. It was his 33rd in a winning cause, the joint-most in the format alongside his idol. En route to his knock, he also became the fastest captain to 9000 international runs.

March 8: En route to his 41st ODI ton, Kohli completed 4000 runs in the format as a captain and became the fastest-ever to reach to the milestone.

April 5: Kohli became the highest run-getter in Indian Premier League, surpassing Suresh Raina. He now has 5412 runs in 169 innings. He also became the second Indian to amass 8000 T20 runs after Raina. 

June 27: Kohli became the fastest to 20,000 international runs with the knock against West Indies in the group stage clash against in World Cup 2019, and he became the fastest ever to reach the mark, surpassing Sachin and Brian Lara.

July 1: With his fifth half-century on the trot in World Cup 2019, Kohli became the second batsman ever to score five consecutive fifties in a World Cup after Steve Smith. He also became the first captain to script the record.

July 6: Kohli became the third Indian batsman to amass 1000 runs in World Cup after Sachin and Ganguly. With a tally of 1030 runs in 26 innings, he is the second Indian in the all-time list after Sachin (2278).

August 5: Kohli becomes India's highest run scorer in T20 cricket, surpassing Raina. He now has 8556 runs in the format in 257 innings.

August 26: With India's emphatic 318-run win against West Indies in the Test series opener, Kohli surpassed Ganguly to become the Indian captain with most overseas wins in Tests. Kohli extended his tally to 13 at the end of the two-match Test series. 

September 3: Kohli surpassed Dhoni's elite tally to become the most successful Test captain for India having taken his tally to 28 wins.

October 10: Kohli led India for the 50th time in Test cricket. He became the second Indian to lead India in 50 or more Tests after Dhoni and 17th overall.

October 11: Kohli carved his career-best 254* in the second Test match against South Africa in Pune. The knock saw him overhaul Sachin and Sehwag's tally to become the Indian with most double tons in Test cricket - seven. En route, he also breached the 7000-Test-run mark and became the fourth fastest to the milestone.