On This Day: Virat Kohli Turns 34

Virat Kohli, India’s Golden Boy celebrated his 34th Birthday on Saturday. Virat Kohli was born on 5 November 1988 in New Delhi. India has given to the world many a great cricketer but perhaps none as ambitious as Virat Kohli. Kohli became the most consistent all-format accumulator of his time, making jaw-dropping chases look easy.

Virat Kohli led India to a long stay at No. 1 in Test rankings and a first-ever series win in Australia. He is well on his way to ending up as India’s most successful Test captain. Kohli was the former captain of the India national cricket team. He plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League as a right-handed batsman.

Milestones reached by Virat Kohli

Fastest Indian to reach 1000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, and 10,000 runs in ODIs
Fastest Indian and second fastest in the world to reach 10, 15, 20, and 25 centuries in ODIs
The only batsman in history to average more than 50 in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is simultaneously
Fastest in the world to reach 30 and 35 centuries in ODIs
Second fastest in the world to reach 1,000 runs in T20Is
First Indian cricketer to score three successive centuries in ODIs
Fastest in the world to reach 15,000 international runs
Fastest batsman to score 17,000 runs in international cricket (363 innings)
The first batsman to reach 6000 runs in an IPL tournament
Virat Kohli holds the record for the fewest innings(462 innings) to reach 22000 International runs followed by Sachin Tendulkar who took 493 innings to achieve this feat.
Kohli scored 23000 runs from playing 490 international matches with a 50+ average – the only player to score 20000+ runs with a 50+ average.
Virat Kohli becomes the first Indian cricketer to cross 10,000 T20 runs.

Virat Kohli Awards:

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year): 2017, 2018
ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Decade: 2011–2020
ICC ODI Player of the Year: 2012, 2017, 2018
Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World: 2016, 2017, 2018
ICC Test Player of the Year: 2018
At the national level, Arjuna Award: 2013,
Padma Shri: 2017
ICC ODI Team of the Year: 2012, 2014, 2016 (Captain), 2017 (Captain)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: 2018
Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Decade: 2010-2020
Ranked as one of the world’s most famous athletes by ESPN: 2016
Ranked as one of the most valuable athlete brands by Forbes: in 2016
In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In 2020, he was ranked 66th in the Forbes list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world for the year 2020 with estimated earnings of over $26 million.