Fifteen years ago today, Virat Kohli, arguably the most skilled batter of his era, marked his international entry in the opening ODI of a five-match series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. Even though he managed just 12 runs while opening the batting, there were minimal uncertainties to achieve remarkable success. Kohli indeed exceeded those expectations, crafting one of the most illustrious careers in the history of cricket.
Although his international career began with moderate success, King Kohli has reached unparalleled heights as a batsman over his impressive 15-year journey.
Before we delve into some of Kohli’s remarkable batting accomplishments, let’s watch a video snippet below that showcases the 34-year-old’s first ball and initial run in international cricket.
In the following match, the exceptional batsman contributed a vital 37 runs during India’s triumphant pursuit of a challenging 143 on a difficult batting surface, foreshadowing his remarkable affinity for chasing targets.
More recently, in the second Test against the West Indies, Kohli participated in his 500th international game and crafted a magnificent century in the team’s opening innings. This marked his 76th century across all formats and his 29th in Test matches.
Fifteen years ago on this day in 2008, Virat Kohli scored his first run for India and the rest is History.
1st Ball..
1st run scored @imVkohli#ViratKohli𓃵 #15yearsOfVirat pic.twitter.com/MgDglsIfdf— Extraa Cover (@ExtraaaCover) August 17, 2023
A quick overview of Virat Kohli’s international journey
Compiling the remarkable feats of Virat Kohli’s illustrious international journey is a task in itself. To start, the renowned batsman stands second only to Sachin Tendulkar in the number of centuries, boasting an impressive 76 tons.
At 34 years old, he also holds the second position, trailing Tendulkar, in terms of total runs scored for India and ranks sixth in the all-time list. Among the top ten run-scorers in international cricket, he stands alone with an average above 50 across all formats.
King Kohli’s international career encompasses over 25,500 runs, maintaining an average above 50 in limited-overs formats and narrowly missing a Test average of 50. He claims the second-highest number of ODI centuries (46), trailing Tendulkar by merely three (49), and secures the fifth spot in total ODI runs.
With his 29th Test century, the 34-year-old matched Sir Don Bradman’s count of centuries in the realm of red-ball cricket. Kohli also stands as the sole player in cricket history to register ten ODI centuries against a single team, which is Sri Lanka in this case.
In the domain of T20Is, the exceptional batsman commands the second-highest average (52.73) and leads the run tally with 4,008 runs. Kohli has received the Player of the Series award a record seven times in T20s and jointly holds the highest tally across formats with 20.
Beyond his unparalleled batting achievements, Kohli enjoyed significant success as one of India’s most accomplished captains, particularly in Test cricket. He holds the record for the most Test wins as an Indian captain (40 wins in 58 matches), second only to MS Dhoni in overall victories.
Given the years ahead of him, it would be unsurprising if Virat Kohli ends up holding nearly all major batting records by the time he concludes his international cricket career.
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