🏏Virat Kohli

📖In detail

A living example of modern cricket: a batsman with skill, deep self-belief and a love of challenges. Born in Delhi on 5 November 1988, Kohli led India to the Under-19 World Cup title, and it was clear then that he was in for the long run. He made his international debut in August 2008.

At a time when senior players filled India's middle order, he made his mark in ODIs with centuries such as his 118 against Australia at Visakhapatnam and hundreds against England.

On the 2011-12 tour of Australia, when the senior batsmen were struggling, he scored a fine Test century at Adelaide, and in the following tri-series he hit 133 not out off 86 balls against Sri Lanka, an innings hailed as one of the best in ODI cricket. He was named vice-captain for the 2012 Asia Cup.

He was a member of the 2011 World Cup-winning team. He later became India's Test captain and led the side from 2014 to 2022. After winning the T20 World Cup in June 2024 he retired from T20 internationals, and in May 2025 he retired from Test cricket.