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The king of the cricket world!
Virat Kohli is not just a name in the world of cricket, but Virat Kohli is a wonderful combination of aggression, passion, dedication, hard work and talent.
Virat Kohli was born on 5th November 1988, in a Punjabi-Hindu family who lived in Delhi. He did not have such a strong background. Even in the family, no one had a special fondness for cricket. But 3 year old Virat used to get up from the bed and swing a cricket bat in the air and in his childish language used to ask his father to bowl. Prem Kohli, a criminal lawyer by profession, may not have known at the moment that who he is bowling against then is going to blow the world's greatest bowlers with his batting in the near future.
Thus, from an early age, the roots of an inseparable relationship between Virat, his father and cricket began to develop. Without wasting much of Virat's time in street cricket, his father admitted 9-year-old Virat Kohli to the professional cricket club "West Delhi Cricket Academy". His coach Rajkumar Sharma says, "Virat is a natural talent. He had a strange appetite which did not allow Virat to sit still. Virat was not ready to leave the ground, we had to push him home."
Virat's metro train reached the station named "Indian Under-19 Team" after passing through Delhi Under-15 in 2002, Delhi Under-17 in 2004 and Delhi List - A in 2006. At this station, Kohli batted hard against under-19 teams like England and Pakistan and informed everyone about his arrival in the world of cricket.
In the match against Karnataka in December 2006, Virat got the news of his father's death. The coach and the rest of the team members assumed that Virat could no longer bat and started thinking about Plan-B. But they were proven wrong. To everyone's surprise, Virat showed his dedication to cricket and the team at that time and paid tribute to his father with a superb innings of 90 runs. This was a life changing moment for Virat Kohli. Virat's mother Saroj Kohli says that after this incident, Virat's love for cricket reached its peak. It's as if he's not chasing his late father's dreams, but running after a cricket ball speeding towards the boundary! Virat's cricketing metro train was crossing one station after another and was moving towards its destination, but this time the speed of the train surprised everyone.
The first major international tournament that Virat has won is the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia in 2008. Only a passionate player like Virat could lead a passionate team like "Indian U-19". For the first time, as a player and especially as a captain, the world saw Kohli's 'giant' form. The Indian U-19 team led by Kohli became unbeaten by defeating South Africa in the final match of the tournament. With the help of 1 century in 6 innings of that tournament, Virat made a total of 235 runs and also got a place in the top 3 run getters. Now everyone believes that "A Star is Born Today".
After the U-19 World Cup, IPL franchise RCB signed Virat Kohli for $ 30,000. IPL became a good international exposure for Virat as famous international players were playing in the IPL.
In August 2008, Kohli's cricketing train arrived at a metro station where every child in the country held a bat in his hand. Kohli got a place in the national team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. The team management placed young and energetic Virat Kohli in the playing-11 as an opening batsman. The series was important from Virat Kohli's point of view. Making his first international half-century, Kohli caught the attention of cricketing experts. Along with this, Kohli also got a place in the BCCI's annual contract list. With Sachin and Sehwag returning to the team, Kohli lost his place in the team again. Kohli was in the search of a thrust that would make him a permanent player of the national team. The thrust was given to him in the form of the Emerging Player Tournament held in Australia in 2009. As the opening batsman, he scored 398 runs in 7 matches and put the national team selectors in a dilemma. After the tournament, chief selector Chris Srikanth himself could not help praising Kohli. Virat himself considers this tournament as the 'turning point' of his career.
Kohli was included in the Indian national team for the ICC Champions Trophy, 2009. Kohli won his first Man of the Match award against the West Indies in this tournament. After the Champions Trophy, he scored 107 runs in a match of the home series against Sri Lanka and reached the milestone of the first ODI century. In the subsequent Tri-Nation series in Bangladesh, Kohli completed the remaining deficit and became the favorite cricketer of the people.
Now, the journey of Virat Kohli to become 'King Kohli' has begun. Kohli’s bat made runs as if the Gandiv of Arjun hit arrows for the assassination of Bhishmpitamah. After too many centuries, Kohli's size became as big as Bhim's son 'Ghatodgachchh' in the Mahabharata. To the date, Kohli has reached the pinnacle of success with 43 ODI centuries and 27 Test centuries. Kohli’s on-field passion raises the spirits of every Indian watching and playing the match. In today's modern cricket, Kohli knew exactly the importance of fitness to do justice to his talent. Kohli is credited with making fitness a trend in Indian cricket.
"Lead by example" – This line is a perfect suit for captain Kohli. Kohli has always set an example with his batting when the team needs him. He firmly believes that the first thing I want my team to do is to do it myself and then I will be able to suggest it to those players. On the field you will always see the hunger for victory on his face. 'Whether I perform or not, but my team must perform well.' "I don't just go to the field to play," Kohli said in an interview. “My attempt is always to leave the field with zero energy. I shouldn't have any regrets after leaving the field." What a thought! After all, that is why fans are crazy about Kohli!
National honors bestowed on Kohli:
Our view is that it would be more accurate to say that cricket chose Virat Kohli than to say that Virat Kohli chose cricket.
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