India's new 'Milestone Man' Virat Kohli turns 30

A little over a decade ago, a stylish teenager led the India team to the under-19 World Cup title. His zeal, enthusiasm and of course talent, was hard to miss. The success of Virat Kohli, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Monday, saw him being fast-tracked into the senior side and soon he was sharing the dressing room with stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.

The name - Virat Kohli - was suddenly among the most-used names in Indian cricket. In the decade gone by, he has transformed himself into a cricketer par excellence and a leader with a high success rate. The transformation hasn't happened overnight. It has been carefully structured and the results are telling.

One of the best compliments Kohli received a few years ago came from the legendary West Indies batsman Viv Richards, who said, "I love watching Virat Kohli bat. I love his aggression, and he has serious passion that I used to have. He reminds me of myself."


Captain Virat Kohli reached a remarkable milestone recently when he notched up 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. It is the fastest ever. He achieved this feat in his 205th innings against the West Indies in Visakhapatnam and carved out another page for himself in the history books. Virat has overtaken Sachin Tendulkar, the master blaster, by scoring his 10,000th run in his 205th innings as against the 259 innings Sachin took to cross the 10,000 run mark.

This match was Virat Kohli's 213th one-day international. He put on 157 runs which incidentally was his 37th one-day international century. It was also a record of sorts as this was his second consecutive century in one-day internationals. Virat Kohli has come a long way since he made his debut 10 years ago, against Sri Lanka in 2008.

Sachin Tendulkar was quick to congratulate Kohli. "The intensity and consistency with which you bat is just amazing. Congratulations on achieving 10,000 runs in ODIs. Keep the runs flowing", Sachin tweeted.


Virat Kohli is the 13th batsman in the world, and the fifth Indian, to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who completed 10,000 runs in one-day internationals in July congratulated the skipper. Freddie Wilde, a cricket analysed, compared Kohli's 10,000 runs in the shortest span of time to cutting seconds from Usain Bolt's world record in the 100-metre dash. Though this match ended in a tie, Kohli was a winner on the day.