On Wednesday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli completed 13 years of international cricket or as in social media’s language we can say ’13 years of Viratism’. Kohli, who hails from Delhi, wore the Blue colors for the first time in a One-Day International match against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on August 18, 2008.
In that match, Kohli opened for India along with Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir but did not make a great start to his international career as he was trapped leg-before wicket by Nuwan Kulasekara and departed on 12 runs.
More than a year later, Kohli got his maiden ODI hundred against the same team he played in his debut ODI match. India were chasing a target of 316 set by Sri Lanka and they lost openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar at a very early stage of their innings.
However, Kohli and Gambhir stood tall against the Sri Lankan bowlers and forged a 224-run stand for the fourth wicket to help India chase the target successfully. Kohli scored 107 runs off 114 balls, his incredible innings included 11 fours and a six off Thisara Perera’s bowling.
From that moment the Indian batsman has entered record books persistently and broke many records of his predecessors with his fabulous knocks, which earned him several laurels like ‘King Kohli’ and India’s run-machine by experts and fans across the globe.
Kohli has played many outstanding innings in his 13 years of Viratism but we bring you the 3 best knocks in white-ball cricket that the Indian captain has played in some of the challenging conditions.
3 greatest innings in 13 Years of Viratism
3. 133* vs Sri Lanka, Hobart 2012
India were in a do-or-die situation in the Common Wealth Bank series and somehow they had to beat Sri Lanka in their final match of the tri-series to keep the chances of surviving in the tournament alive.
Mahela Jayawardene and his men didn’t make it easy for the Indians as they posted an enormous total of 320 riding on the stellar hundreds of Tillakaratne Dilshan (160*) and Kumar Sangakkara (105).
India had to chase the target inside 40 overs if they wanted a bonus point. Sehwag and Tendulkar laid the foundation of the chase with early strikes but couldn’t continue the charge for a long time and were eventually dismissed by Lasith Malinga.
A maverick Kohli took the baton from the India openers and continued to attack the opposition bowlers where he did not even spare Malinga. The best part of the match came in the 35th over, when Kohli hammered Sri Lanka’s ace bowler for 24 runs, on the first ball he picked a couple of runs to bring up his ninth ODI hundred and the next five balls read 6,4,4,4,4.
India chased 321 in 36.4 overs but failed to reach the finals as Australia lost the final group match against Sri Lanka which allowed both teams to make the cut-off.
2. 183 vs Pakistan, Dhaka 2012
Kohli was coming fresh from the Commonwealth Bank series in the 2012 Asia Cup, in his first two innings against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he hit 108 and 66 respectively.
India were playing against rivals Pakistan in the final fixture after they suffered a shocking defeat to Bangladesh in the second match. Pakistan openers Naseer Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez notched up centuries in their 224-run opening stand that helped the team post a mammoth total of 329/6 at the end of the innings.
Kohli became the wrecker-in-chief in India’s run-chase, he was on the business from the first ball and pummelled boundaries against the mighty Pakistan bowlers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
In the course of the chase, Kohli smacked 22 fours and a couple of sixes to bring up his highest score of 183, joining MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly to hit the exact figures. India won the match by six wickets but once again fell short of qualifying the final as Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in the final match to progress on a head-to-head basis.
1. 82* vs Australia, Mohali 2016
Virat Kohli played the best T20I knock of his career against Australia, in a match that looked like a virtual quarter-final. Australia registered 160/6 at the end of their innings.
But Indian batsmen who were struggling throughout the tournament once again failed to make an impact in the chase. Only Kohli remained in form and he displayed his sheer brilliance against the Australian to crack another spectacular knock.
With 39 runs required off the last 3 overs, Kohli switched gears and slammed six and two fours against James Faulkner in the 18th over, and in the next over he smashed four boundaries to Nathan Coulter-Nile to bring down the equation to 4 from 6 balls. Skipper MS Dhoni finished in his regular style and India qualified for the semi-finals.