But his career didn’t get off to a flying start. It is one that has been grafted into greatness bit by bit, particularly during the early part of the decade, before truly blossoming over the last few years.

On his 31st birthday, we look at the big performances from his career, and how far he has come.

107 v Sri Lanka, 2009 (ODI)

[caption id=”attachment_126133″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Virat Kohli scored his maiden ODI century against Sri Lanka in a 224-run stand with Gautam Gambhir[/caption]

Before he scored his first ODI century, Kohli had scored three fifties in his first 12 innings, averaging a shade under 38. Since that maiden century, in Kolkata in December 2009, his average hasn’t dropped below 40 in a decade.

With a little over a year to go for the 2011 World Cup, India were trying to fix their middle-order problem, and a young Kohli was one of the contenders, yet to properly find his feet in international cricket.

At Eden Gardens, India were 23-2 chasing 316 against Sri Lanka when Kohli combined with Gambhir (150*) in the middle. They put together a 224-run stand for the third wicket, and steered the side to a win, with Kohli making a well-paced 107.

The highlights of the knock were the four back-to-back fours off Lasith Malinga, a bowler he would handle ruthlessly throughout his career. At the end of the game, Gambhir, the senior teammate, handed his Player of the Match award over to Kohli. Having ticked off his maiden international ton, Kohli never looked back. He has since hit 42 more tons in the format.

116 v Australia, 2012 (Test)

[caption id=”attachment_126134″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Before the Adelaide Test, Virat Kohli’s highest Test score in 13 innings had been 75[/caption]

Kohli is currently No.2 in the ICC Test batsmen’s rankings, and it’s easy to forget his difficult start in the format. He had to wait three years after his ODI debut to feature in Tests, and he had to find his own corner in a busy middle order, full of ageing superstars. Averaging in the 20s after his first seven Tests, Kohli’s litmus test was in Australia, his first tour abroad.

Despite doing well in white-ball cricket till then, there were plenty of questions regarding Kohli’s temperament, and indeed, whether he was ready for Test cricket. In January 2012, Sanjay Manjrekar, in a now infamous tweet, said Kohli should be given one more Test “just to be sure he does not belong here”.

By the end of the month, Kohli had a Test hundred in Australia, and had sealed his spot in XI. He single-handedly defied Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle, and Nathan Lyon, scoring 116 while no other Indian batsman crossed 35. 

Since then, he has scored six more Test centuries against Australia, and has 26 overall.

133* v Sri Lanka, 2012 (ODI)

[caption id=”attachment_126135″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Virat Kohli came of age with his 133 off 86 balls against Sri Lanka in Hobart[/caption]

This was Kohli’s coming-of-age knock, one that truly established his reputation as a formidable white-ball player.

His stunning, counter-attacking 133* off 86 balls helped India chase down 321 in less than 37 overs in Hobart in a tri-series clash against Sri Lanka. Brimming with self-confidence in a team deflated by a string of losses in Tests in the previous year, Kohli tore apart Sri Lanka’s bowling, pillaging Malinga for 24 runs in an over, handling his trademark yorkers with authority. 

It was the quickest 300+ chase in ODI history, one that gave India a much-needed bonus point in the tournament. It also displayed Kohli’s ability to steer a chase with unmatched verve; a couple of months later, he reinforced that with a career-best 183, and has since then continued to shoot towards ODI greatness with stunning knocks.

82* v Australia, 2016 (T20)

[caption id=”attachment_126136″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Virat Kohli averaged 136.50 after five innings in the 2016 T20 World Cup[/caption]

Kohli was in rich form in 2016, the year he slammed four IPL hundreds in one season. Just before his stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli exhibited his white-ball prowess throughout the T20 World Cup, best highlighted by his masterful chase against Australia that sealed a semi-final spot for India.

A standout feature of the knock was Kohli’s ability to change gears despite the early loss of wickets, and the mounting scoreboard pressure. In a knock that he later deemed his best ever in the format, Kohli hit nine fours and two sixes.  Once he reached his fifty, Kohli was on overdrive – at one point, India needed 51 off 26. They won with five balls to spare.

149 v England, 2018 (Test)

[caption id=”attachment_126137″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] On the 2014 tour, Kohli’s highest score in 10 innings was 39; he ended the 2018 one with an average of 59.30[/caption]

Having averaged a paltry 13.50 on his last tour of England in 2014, Kohli was desperate to make amends. He scored a fighting century in the first Test of the series, at Birmingham – a knock of 149 after one of the all-time epic tussles against Jimmy Anderson. No other Indian batsman crossed 26. Kohli followed it up with 97 and 103 two games later, at Nottingham.

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They weren’t his most fluent knocks, nor did he compile a mammoth score like he does so often now (he has seven double centuries, the most by an Indian, and all post-2016). Yet, it was a testament to how Kohli has buried his personal demons against the moving Dukes ball and evolved into a complete batsman.

He later rated it as his second-best knock in Test cricket. “This could come second to Adelaide (2014). Adelaide remains very special.”