From starting as an amateur when the Indian Premier League (IPL) started in 2008 to becoming the highest-paid cricketer in the history of the tournament, Virat Kohli has come a long way. Meanwhile, a lot of hard work and perseverance has gone into it and Kohli has rightly earned everything that came his way.
The current Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper started at Rs ₹12 lakhs and now he earns ₹17 crores/year, ₹2 crores more than the highest-retention price. The Royal Challengers identified the talent in the 19-year-old youngster, who came from the back of the U-19 World Cup win, and since then, Virat Kohli has stayed with them.
Virat Kohli highest run-scorer in IPL
Kohli was a part of the special auction draft for the U-19 players in 2008 and Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils) had the first choice to go for the young batting prodigy since he hailed from Delhi. However, due to the presence of a number of the batters in the squad, Delhi snubbed ‘young’ Virat Kohli and went for an all-rounder instead.
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Meanwhile, Kohli had a difficult start in the first couple of seasons in IPL. He only scored 165 runs in IPL 2008 and followed up with 246 runs in IPL 2009, where RCB lost to Deccan Chargers in the final. In IPL 2010, he breached the 300-run mark for the first time and finished the season with 307.
After IPL 2011, where he scored 557 runs, there was no looking back for Virat Kohli and he took over the charge of the team in 2013. He has led Royal Challengers Bangalore in eight seasons; however, is yet to win the prestigious trophy.
Currently, Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the history of IPL with 5878 runs and will continue to make many records in the coming days. However, his main aim will be to end Bangalore’s barren run in the competition and win the trophy for the fans.
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