Virat Kohli's record-breaking decade: Over 20k runs, becoming most successful Test skipper and ICC heartbreaks

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"Sachin Tendulkar was an emotion. Virat Kohli is an experience." A popular social-media account by the name of Trendulkar is reckoned to have posted these words following Kohli's match-winning 82* against Australia to guide India into World T20 semis. Kohli was by then half-way through this record-breaking decade and had already broken away from the shackles of the popular opinion of him being a brash kid in love with himself. The latter phrase indeed defined the chubby-faced kid who had already cemented his place in Indian limited-overs team at the turn of this decade. But by then he had already created a separate fan base for himself comprising veterans as well, with his special natural talent.

10 years hence, Kohli finds the entire cricket fraternity behind him, waiting eagerly for the time when (and not ‘if’) he will tear down Sachin Tendulkar’s colossal run tally international cricket. He no longer comes across as a someone of brash personality. Kohli, now 31, and also the captain of the Indian cricket team, is not just a belief, but also stands as the heart and soul of his side.

The decade has been dominated by one person, and one individual only, across the three formats, as Kohli ends the period between 2010 and 2019 with more than 20000 international runs – the most by any batsman in any decade.

World Cup 2011 selection, Test debut and ascension to ODI vice-captaincy

After a decent performance in tour of Zimbabwe where he had also made his T20I debut, Kohli struggled to find form as his performance faltered in 2010 Asia Cup and in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. However, he bounced back to form with successive ODI centuries against Australia and New Zealand, respectively, and subsequently made his selection for World Cup even stronger. He in fact ended the year as India's leading run-getter in the 50-over format with 995 runs in 25 matches. He soon rose to the No.2 spot in ODI rankings following his successful ODI campaign in South Africa and on the same day was named in India's final 15 for World Cup 2011 at home.

Kohli, despite questions over his selection in the playing XI, played in every match in World Cup 2011 and even scored a century in his debut match. He also was part of a crucial 83-run stand with Gautam Gambhir in India's victorious win in the final in Mumbai.

Following India's historic win, Kohli found himself in the Test squad for the tour of West Indies and even made his debut in the series. Kohli returned with just 76 runs in five innings while struggling against the short ball. Amid moderate success in Tests, Kohli was slowly emerging as a limited-overs maverick as he ended 2011 with 1381 runs from 34 matches. Kohli by then already had eight ODI career tons to his name.

The tour of Australia in 2011 was one of the turning points in his career. While he shrugged off his Test difficulties with his maiden ton en route to 116 at Adelaide, which later turned out to be one of his favourite venues in world cricket, he followed it up a scintillating 133 against Sri Lanka in CB series, the first glimpse of Kohli as a 'Chasemaster'. By February, Kohli had done enough for himself to impress the selectors as he was named as the vice-captain in India's Asia Cup tournament in 2012. It was during this tournament that he scored his still personal best 183 off 148 balls, the one that helped India to recover from 0/1 to completing a 330-run chase.

The great England fall, Test captaincy and usual ODI domination

One of biggest scare in Kohli's career was the tour of England. All until then was dreamy and sweet. He had recently capped off a successful Test campaign in South Africa, an ODI series in New Zealand and an impressive run in India's unsuccessful Asia Cup 2014. He was even rested for the tours right before England series to keep him fit for the campaign. India lost 1-3 against the hosts and Kohli averaged only 13.40 in 10 innings after being dismissed for a single digit score six times falling prey to the swing ball down the sixth stump line. Kohli's batting was suddenly exposed with veterans and analysts questioning his technique.

"Everyone is focused on their jobs. It is difficult to know what is going in the other person’s mind. I have also gone through a phase in my career when I thought it’s the end of the world. In England 2014, I didn’t know what to do, what to say to anyone, how to speak or how to communicate," Kohli recalled last month in response to a question on mental health issues of cricketers.

Kohli ODI domination however told the usual story as he ended 2014 with 1054 runs becoming only the second player after Sourav Ganguly to score 1000-plus ODI runs in four straight years.

At the end of the year, during India’s struggle under Australian conditions, MS Dhoni suddenly announced his Test retirement and Kohli was immediately handed over the captaincy responsibilities. He ended the series with 692 runs, which included a record hat-trick of centuries as Indian skipper, the most by an Indian in a Test contest in Australia. India however lost the series.

India’s grand home run and limited-overs captaincy

Since the start of Kohli's captaincy in 2015, India won all the ten Test series played at home, winning 22 matches off the total 28 games while losing only once (against Australia in 2017 Border-Gavaskar series). The span also witnessed India winning 19 straight Test matches before the Aussies broke the streak in February 2017. Such was India's dominance that in the 23 Tests Kohli captained between 2015 and 2017, he only stood behind Dhoni and Ganguly in terms of most Test wins as captain while also surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's unbeaten record of 18 Tests.

In between, Kohli played an influential role in India's 2016 Asia Cup win in Bangladesh and won the second Man of the Tournament trophy in ICC World T20 where India lost in the semis.

At the beginning of 2017, Dhoni stepped down from his position as captain in limited-overs format as Kohli was named as India's new skipper across formats. He led India in his first ICC tournament as a captain as the Men in Blue reached the final of Champions Trophy 2017, but lost to Pakistan by 180 runs.

On personal front, Kohli equalled Ricky Ponting's tally of 30 ODI centuries, surpassed the 5000-run mark in Tests, became first skipper to score six double tons in Tests, and ended 2017 with 2818 international runs which is the third-most in a calendar year ever and highest by an Indian. He was also announced as captain of both of ICC's World Test XI and ODI XI for the year.

Burying the ghosts of England and an Australian delight

After a record-breaking ODI campaign in South Africa both as a skipper and as a batsman, Kohli was all set to revisit the ghosts of England that had troubled him four summers back. But the Indian skipper ended the five-match series with 593 runs in 10 innings in the visitors' 1-4 humiliation. Kohli's India then travelled to the land Down Under where he did not just break several records as a batsman but became the first Asian skipper to lead his nation to a Test series win in Australia. He was once again named as the captain of both the World Test XI and ODI XI for 2018 by ICC.

World Cup heartbreak, India’s most successful Test captain and record-breaking decade

In 2019, Kohli got another chance at an ICC trophy as India headed to England for World Cup tournament. In the match against Pakistan, Kohli became the fastest to 11000 runs in ODIs. Against West Indies in the group stage, Kohli became the fastest to 20000 international runs. He also scored five consecutive half-centuries during the campaign. However, India lost in the semis where Kohli was dismissed for only one run.

Following the heartbreaking campaign, Kohli and his men toured West Indies where India whitewashed the beleaguered hosts. With the 2-0 win, Kohli surpassed Dhoni to become the most successful Indian skipper ever.

Kohli eventually ended the year and the decade on a record-breaking note. Kohli has scored 20,960 runs across formats between 2010 and 2019 at an average of 57.58 with 69 centuries and 98 fifties. This makes Kohli the leading run-scorer in this decade with South Africa's Hashim Amla standing a distant second with 15,185 runs in 286 matches. Not just this, Kohli also stands 1726 runs clear of all-time second-placed Ricky Ponting (18962 runs in 363 matches between 2000 and 2009) His idol, Sachin Tendulkar, stands sixth in the list with 15962 runs in 301 matches between 2000 and 2009.

Kohli recorded 11125 runs in 227 ODI matches between 2010 and 2019, at an average of 60.79 with 42 centuries and 52 half-centuries - the best figures ever by a player considering any decade. In Tests, he scored 7,202 runs in 84 matches this decade and is the second-highest run-getter in Tests in this decade after England's Alastair Cook (8,818 runs in 111 matches). In T20Is, Kohli managed 2633 runs in 75 matches and finished the decade as the highest run-scorer in the format.

Besides his exceptional and flawless batting, the decade also witnessed the rise of Kohli as the Indian skipper. He led India in 160 matches across formats between 2010 and 2019 with the team winning 107 matches. The tally of wins stands second in this decade after MS Dhoni -- 123 wins out of 233 matches. Overall, Kohli's win record stands fifth in the all-time list of most wins as a skipper in a decade. Ponting leads the list with 194 victories for Australia between 2002 and 2009. Kohli's win-loss ratio of 2.74 is also the third-best among captains who have led their team in more than 100 matches across formats in a decade. Only Ponting, Hansie Cronje and Clive Llyod have better W/L ratio than Kohli.

As a skipper, Kohli has the most runs across formats in this decade, having amassed 10969 runs in 166 matches, standing only behind Ponting's 13,641 runs and Graeme Smith's tally of 11,236 runs. However, Kohli has the best average -- 66.85 -- among skippers who have led their nation in more than 100 games in a decade. Kohli also has the most centuries by a skipper in a decade.