Virat Kohli turns 31 as #HappyBirthdayViratKohli trends with over 350k tweets on Twitter

Hyderabad: As the Captain of the Indian Cricket team and one of the best Batsman in the world, Virat Kohli celebrates his 31st Birthday today, Indians couldn't keep calm as #HappyBirthdayViratKohli took over twitter with over 350k tweets on the occasion of his birthday.

Born on 5th November 1988 in Delhi, he first rose on to the scene when he scored a gutsy 90 against Karnataka in his debut Ranji season for Delhi in 2006. Deciding to play in spite of his father's death is something that showed his passion for the game.

He later went on to Captain the India U-19 side which won the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia against South Africa in 2008. He soon made his international debut for India in the same year against Srilanka at the age of 19.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore also picked him in the inaugural IPL season for a base price of 20 lakh. Although that season was not one to remember, he continued to nourish his game with each challenge.

In August 2009, He was selected in the four-team Emerging players Tournament held in Australia. He opened the innings for India and was the leading run-getter in the tournament with 397 runs in 7 matches. He scored a brilliant 104 off 102 balls in the finals against South Africa Emerging players to help his team win the game and title at Brisbane.

Kohli has called this tournament as the "turning point" of his career.

He was then included in the Indian side for the Champions Trophy in 2009 in which he scored an unbeaten 79 against the Westindies to win his first Man of the Match award.

He then found a spot in the home series against Srilanka in 2009 where he scored his first ODI Hundred (107 off 111) in Kolkata and also shared a 224-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir who made his career-best score of 150. India won the match and the series by 3-1 which also saw a very kind gesture from Gautam Gambhir as he gave his Man of the Match award to the young Virat who scored his maiden ODI 100.

Virat's rise through the ranks began in the year 2010 as he was the leading run-scorer for India with 995 runs in 25 matches averaging 47 with three centuries. This also made him a strong contender for a spot in India's World Cup squad.

In January 2011, He went up to No.2 in the ICC ODI Batsmen rankings and was selected in the 15-man squad for the World Cup.

He made a statement in India's inaugural game against Bangladesh as he scored a hundred in his very first World Cup game and became the first Indian to do so. Opener Virender Sehwag scored 175. The next few games didn't go his way as he scored 8, 34, 12 and 1. He scored 35 in the World Cup final against Srilanka. He shared a valuable 83-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir chasing a target of 275 before getting out caught to Tilakaratne Dilshan as India went on to win the World Cup for the second time since 1983.

Kohli's Test Debut

Having found a place in the Indian squad against Australia in 2011, he scored his first Test Century (116) in the fourth test at Adelaide which was the only century scored by an Indian in the series. Although India lost the series 0-4, he was the top run-scorer for India.

In the tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia, he scored an unbeaten 133 off 86 balls to keep India alive in the series. As a result of his hundred, India chased down a Mammoth total of 321 with 13 overs to spare which gained India a bonus Point as well. Although India couldn't qualify for the final, his innings of 133 were considered as one of the best ODI knocks in the history of the game.

Although with a few ups and downs in his career, Virat Kohli has only become a better version of himself with each passing innings.

From a poor show in the 2014 test series in England to shutting his critics with hundreds in both the innings of a test match in Australia after being handed the Test Captaincy, his aggression has always brought the best out of him.

On the occasion of Virat's 31st Birthday, let us have a look at few of the records he has broken and set

. First Batsman to score 20,000 runs across formats in a decade (417 innings).

. Fastest to 10,000 ODI runs (205 innings) as he surpassed the great Sachin Tendulkar who achieved this feat in 254 innings.

. The most no of runs in a single IPL season (934).

. First Asian Captain to win a Test series in Australia against Australia in 71 years.

. He is India's most successful Test Captain surpassing MS Dhoni who had 27 wins as a Captain.

. First Indian Batsman to score 7 Double hundreds in tests. He also has the most no of 150+ scored as a Captain in tests.

. Most Double hundreds as Test Captain.

. He has taken the most no of catches since his international debut (234).

. Only batsman to average more than 50 in all the formats.

. Man of the tournament in consecutive T20 World Cups (2014, 2016)

. First Indian to score 3 consecutive ODI centuries.

. Fastest ODI hundred by an Indian Batsman (52 balls)

. The only player to score three consecutive hundreds as a Captain in tests.

. Highest Run scorer in the IPL. (5412)

. Fastest to teach 30, 35, 40 ODI centuries.

. First Batsman to score 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series.

. Most centuries by a Captain in a calendar year. (11)

These are some of the well-known records besides the plethora of records that Virat Kohli has broken and set in his illustrious career of 11 years and will continue to do so in the coming years of his career.

Here's wishing a very Happy Birthday to our very own Indian Captain and one of the greatest Batsman of the game, Virat Kohli.

My journey and life's lessons explained to a 15-year old me. Well, I tried my best writing this down. Do give it a read. 😊 #NoteToSelf pic.twitter.com/qwoEiknBvA

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 5, 2019