Driven: The Virat Kohli Story!

Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer who currently captains the India national team. A right-handed batsman often regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. Kohli was ranked eighth in ESPN’s list of world’s most famous athletes in 2016. He plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and has been the team’s captain since 2013.

A typical modern-day cricketer, Virat Kohli plays his game aggressively, bares his emotions loudly in public, yet retains the element of maturity that forms an integral part of every good and great player. Anil Kumble said he had thought hard before calling Kohli the best under-22 player in international cricket – that would rate as perhaps the best compliments he has received. It is also proof of Kohli’s transformation as a player.

But even defied figures have to begin somewhere. His family didn’t always have it good. His father, a criminal lawyer, succumbed to a celebral stroke when Virat was very young, depriving him of someone he calls his ‘biggest support’ both on and off the field. The son paid his tribute to Prem Kohli in a way the older man himself would have applauded: Virat Kohli returned to the field to continue an innings a few hours after he lost him. ‘He was the one who drove me to practice every day, ’ the captain of the Indian cricket team recalls with his characteristic humility and grace.

At 28, he has already been the recipient of countless accolades — not the least of them being the Arjuna Award and the title of BCCI’s ‘International Cricketer of the Year’ for the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons. He was the ICC’s ‘ODI Player of the Year’ as early as in 2012. On a more commercial note, British journal SportsPro pronounced him the ‘second-most marketable athlete in the world’ just two years later.
But for the Run Machine, it’s not about the money or fame or the roar of the crowds or that women of all ages vie for the wide-eyed attention of his extraordinary gaze. Few incidences have been reported of his open hearted altruism, his numerous charities for under-privileged children and his sheer pluck when the odds are against him.

Widely read sports journalist Vijay Lokapally goes on to record happier times on the journey of Virat’s rapid rise to international stardom, an account punctuated by little-known stories by his fellow players, coaches and intimates.

But what has not escaped the public eye is how this wizard of the willow and wicket wears his heavy mantle with such insouciant ease.

Virat Kohli made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare in June 2010. Playing in his third ICC WT20.

He took the wicket of Kevin Pietersen with his first delivery in T20I cricket.

In 2015, he became the first player to score centuries in his first three innings as Test captain.

First achieved the number-one position in the ICC T20I batting rankings in September 2014 and his highest points tally of 897 is the best ever.

Scored 319 runs in the ICC WT20 2014, a record for any batsman in a single ICC WT20 tournament, and was named player of the tournament.

Also,  you can find more details about Virat Kohli’s profile and his  batting statistics in tests.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/253802.html

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Within a year, Virat once again exploded on the cricket field, but without a bat this time. The Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed a Virat-Gambhir spat that left the audience stunned. Two Delhi and India teammates going at each other was an unsightly spectacle, but accepted as part of the game in modern times.

A cricketer must be seen as an expressive individual on the field, what with the TV cameras following every moment and beaming it across the world. Virat, in this case, was steering RCB to the target of 155 in the IPL clash with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), when he lost his wicket. Having slammed two sixes off Delhi teammate Pradeep Sangwan, also his India under-19 colleague, Virat attempted to slice L. Balaji, but only holed out to Eoin Morgan.

As he appeared to walk back to the dressing room, something snapped in him and he moved towards Gambhir, who was equally menacing, while confronting a livid Virat. Things had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. Another Delhi player, Bhatia, fielding at third man, sprinted to the spot of action and separated the two from a potentially explosive situation.

‘I felt sad,’ was all that Bhatia would say of the incident that portrayed Virat and Gambhir in poor light. Elsewhere, in Delhi, their coaches were also appalled at the development in Bangalore. ‘We called each other to ensure that neither of us spoke to the media,’ said Gambhir’s coach Sanjay Bhardwaj. For Raj Kumar, it was a ‘minor’ incident and hardly a concern since he knew Gambhir and Virat would soon bury the differences, if there were any. Needless to say there is no love lost between the two.

Virat is not the one to change just for the sake of it. He has always believed in being transparent. He would protest strongly if he saw injustice. During the 2014 England tour, when girlfriend Anushka Sharma stayed in the team hotel, there was a furor in the media. ‘Not part of our culture,’ screamed the team manager Sunil Dev. However, Virat had taken prior permission, even as needless attention was paid to a private matter. It was not as if Virat had smuggled his girlfriend into the hotel in a clandestine manner. The team was aware and so was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). At another point, Virat erred in lashing out at the wrong journalist during the 2015 World Cup in Australia, mistaking him for the one who had written about Anushka’s presence in the England team hotel.

The World Cup ended up being a disappointment for Virat when he failed against Australia in the semi-final at Sydney. A bouncer from Johnson climbed on him and his resultant pull was a disaster.

His dismissal was uncharitably attributed on social media to the presence of Anushka in the stands. Soon, she would again be in the news, this time for not attending the Mohali match. The Mohali match was where Virat decimated Australia in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 with an astonishing innings. Following the trolling of Anushka, it was natural for Virat to respond. He stood by her with a strong and well-articulated message on Twitter and Instagram.

His Instagram post read, ‘Shame on those people who have been having a go at Anushka for the longest time and connecting every negative thing to her. Shame on those people calling themselves educated. Shame on blaming and making fun of her when she has no control over what I do with my sport. If anything she has only motivated and given me more positivity. This was long time coming. Shame on these people that hide and take a dig. And I don’t need any respect for this post. Have some compassion and respect her. Think of how your sister or girlfriend or wife would feel if someone trolled them and very conveniently rubbished them in public.’

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