A quiet beginning to an extraordinary career

Virat Kohli’s international story started on August 18, 2008, at Dambulla, where the 19-year-old made 12 from 22 balls against Sri Lanka. He was dismissed lbw by Nuwan Kulasekara, India lost by eight wickets and the scorecard offered little indication that a defining career had begun.

Eighteen years later, Kohli’s record tells a radically different story. By August 2026, he had amassed 14,941 runs and 54 centuries in 314 ODIs, along with 9,230 Test runs from 123 matches and 4,188 T20I runs from 125 appearances. His international tally stood at 28,359 runs and 85 hundreds.

Character forged before fame

One of the clearest early signs of Kohli’s resilience came in December 2006. Playing for Delhi against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, he learned of the death of his father, Prem Kohli, while unbeaten on 40 overnight. Kohli returned to the field the next morning and made 90.

That resolve soon carried him to the India Under-19 side. As captain at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, Kohli scored 235 runs in six innings and led India to the title. His first international half-century arrived later that year, followed by his maiden ODI hundred—a 107 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata—in 2009.

From World Cup winner to chase master

Kohli was part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning team at just 22. He scored a century against Bangladesh in the opening match and contributed 35 in the final against Sri Lanka, helping Gautam Gambhir and the lower order recover before MS Dhoni sealed the victory with 91.

His reputation as one of the game’s great pursuers was established during the 2012 Asia Cup. Kohli struck 183 against Pakistan, still his highest ODI score, and later produced an unbeaten 133 from 86 balls against Sri Lanka in Hobart as India chased 321 in 40 overs.

Captaincy changed India’s ambition

When MS Dhoni stepped down as Test captain in 2014 and later relinquished the limited-overs captaincy, Kohli inherited leadership responsibilities across formats. His Test captaincy helped shift India towards a more aggressive, fitness-driven identity.

The transformation was evident during the 2014-15 tour of Australia, where Kohli scored 115 and 141 in the Adelaide Test. India rose to No. 1 in the Test rankings, while a fast-bowling group led by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav gave the team the attack required to win abroad. India’s first Test series victory in Australia, in 2018-19, became the defining reward of that project.

Kohli finished with 68 Tests as captain, winning 40 and losing 17—the most Test victories by an Indian captain.

The 2016 peak and the long wait

In 2016, Kohli moved from elite batter to global sporting phenomenon. His Indian Premier League season produced 973 runs in 16 matches, including four centuries, at an average of 81.08. His commitment to conditioning, diet and relentless running between the wickets influenced a generation of Indian cricketers.

That peak was followed by one of the most difficult periods of his career. Between November 2019 and March 2023, he went 23 Tests and 41 innings without a century, averaging 25.70 in that stretch. His 71st international hundred took 1,020 days to arrive after his 70th in November 2019.

Comeback, records and closure

The revival began at the 2022 Asia Cup, when Kohli made an unbeaten 122 from 61 balls against Afghanistan for his first T20I century. At the T20 World Cup later that year, he made 82 not out from 53 balls against Pakistan in a pressure chase that reaffirmed his standing as one of the sport’s great big-match performers.

At the 2023 ODI World Cup, Kohli delivered a historic campaign, scoring 765 runs in 11 innings at an average of 95.63. He became the first player to reach 50 ODI centuries, moving past Sachin Tendulkar’s previous record of 49.

He then added the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy to his collection of major honours. After retiring from Test cricket and T20Is, Kohli remained an ODI specialist for India.

His final major chapter with Royal Challengers Bengaluru also brought long-awaited success. After the franchise had lost finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016, RCB won the IPL in 2025 and again in 2026. The triumphs completed a career that combined individual records, global trophies and a lasting change in how Indian cricket measured intensity, fitness and ambition.