Photo: Collected
Today, 5 November, is the birthday of Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli. He was born on this day in 1988 in New Delhi, India. To call Kohli, who has turned 38, merely a batter would be an understatement; he is one of the most talked-about and successful cricketers of the modern game. Known for his consistency with the bat, he is called ‘King Kohli’ in the cricket world.
Whenever he walks out to bat, it seems new history is waiting to be written. Sometimes mountains of runs, sometimes century after century, and at other times breaking record after record, he has taken himself to unique heights. The list of achievements of one of modern cricket’s finest batters is long. More than 28,000 runs and 86 centuries in international cricket reflect his long and illustrious career. On his birthday, here is a look back at some of Kohli’s rare feats that have earned him a special place in cricket history.
Top of the ODI centuries list
Kohli has the most centuries in ODI cricket; the figure is 55. Sachin Tendulkar had long held the top spot with 49 centuries. Kohli broke that record at the 2023 World Cup by scoring his 50th ODI century. He then added five more hundreds to take the record even higher. He has become a symbol of consistency in ODIs.
Best average among 10,000-run batters
Among batters with more than 10,000 ODI runs, Kohli has the highest average — 58.84. Among those with 10,000 runs, only Mahendra Singh Dhoni also averages above 50, at 50.57. But no one on this list comes close to Kohli. Besides scoring runs over a long period, the Indian star has also shown how effectively an innings can be finished.
The 2016 IPL is one of the most memorable chapters of Kohli’s career. In that season he scored 973 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, still the highest individual tally in a single IPL season. Besides the runs, he also hit four centuries that year. Although his outstanding performances took the team to the final, he could not win the title in the end.
Highest Test ranking among Indians
Kohli’s highest rating as a batter in the ICC Test rankings is 937 points. Achieved in 2018, that rating is still the highest among Indian batters. The achievement is strong evidence of his consistency and dominance in Tests.
Four hundreds in one series in Australia
Kohli had a superb time with the bat against Australia in the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He scored four centuries in that four-match Test series. Such a performance in tough Australian conditions strengthened his standing in world cricket. The feat is regarded as one of the best performances by an Indian batter abroad.
Kohli needed only 205 innings to reach 10,000 ODI runs; in terms of time, just 10 years and 67 days. No other batter in cricket history has reached this milestone so quickly. He set this feat by breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
Fastest to 27,000 international runs
Kohli also holds the record for being the fastest to 27,000 runs in international cricket across all three formats. He reached the milestone in just 594 innings. The record was previously held by Sachin Tendulkar, who needed 623 innings. In other words, Kohli overtook the legendary Sachin while playing 29 fewer innings.
Unique success as captain abroad
Kohli also has a special distinction in winning Test series as captain outside India. Among Indian captains, he has won the most Test series abroad — five. The biggest of these was giving India its first taste of a Test series win on Australian soil. Not only that, Kohli is also the first Indian captain to win two Test series in Australia.
Background
According to a report by The Week on 30 June 2024, Kohli announced his retirement from T20 internationals after India won the T20 World Cup by beating South Africa by seven runs in Barbados.
The Week reported on 12 May 2025 that he announced his retirement from Test cricket on that day too. A Greater Kashmir report the same day said he would play only ODIs from then on.
Sources
Background sources: The Week, 30 June 2024; The Week, 12 May 2025; Greater Kashmir, 12 May 2025
