If you’re a cricket enthusiast who wants to learn about cricketers from around the world, this article is the right place to start, as we talk about one of India’s most well-known cricket players of all time.

Let’s have a brief overview of the history of cricket before we proceed. You can also get Virat Kohli Net Worth.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is known as a national treasure to the Indian society. The batsman with the combative batting and leadership skills. Virat Kohli Jersey number is 18, popular over the world. Although he is known for his cricket career, we must take a look at the man beneath the glory of the bat.

Birth and Family

Virat Kohli was born on November 5 in 1988, in a Punjabi Hindu family. Prem Kohli, his father, is a criminal lawyer, and Saroj Kohli, his mother, is a homemaker. He has two older siblings, Bhavna and Vikas, who were all raised in a supportive and loving home. The family lived in a locality of West Delhi called Uttam Nagar for the majority of Virat Kohli’s developing years.

Education and Qualifications

Virat Kohli attended the Vishal Bharti School for his early years of education. He had a passion for cricket from a young age, and after recognizing his talent and passionate outlook towards the sport, he got enrolled in the West Delhi Cricket Academy at the age of 9. 9 years old! Rajkumar Sharma was the name of his trainer, who guided him and supported him through the early years of his cricket journey.

Balancing both academics and sports was truly fascinating for a child, but V.K. managed to do so for the majority of his young years. For his high school education, he was transferred to the Saviour Convent Senior Secondary School in Paschim Vihar, Delhi, where he completed the rest of his studies up to 12th grade.

Kohli did not attend college because by the time he had reached the 12th grade, his cricket career had started to take off. He decided to complete high school and then give priority to his passion for cricket rather than further academic studies. This was a tough decision to make at such a young age, but this is what ultimately led to the success of his career from national to international cricket.

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Career in Cricket

The debut in Delhi took place in 2002, under-15, and he almost immediately rose through the ranks by becoming the highest run-scorer for the Under-17 Vijay Merchant Trophy in the 2003-2004.

In the year of 2006, he made his first-class debut for Delhi, and not too long after, captained the Indian Under-19 to the road to success in the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup. In August 2008, in an ODI against Sri Lanka, he made his first-ever international debut. After years of hard work, V.K. managed to make a name for himself as one of the greatest batsmen in the world, and he has countless written records throughout the years, such as –

1. Most Centuries in ODIs (almost 50 and still counting)
2. The first player to score an insane number of runs in international cricket in decades. 20,000 runs.
3. Swiftest player to score 8,000-11,000 runs in ODIs.

The Indian National Team faced many victories because of Kohli, one of the significant wins being the 2011 ODI World Cup. He has coached and trained many teams in different formats and has become the most successful Test Captain in the history of India. Virat Kohli Longest Six was 103 in 2023’s match of the IPL against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Awards and Achievements

Some National Awards

1. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (2018): The highest sports honor in India, acknowledging Kohli’s unrivalled success in cricket.
2. Padma Shri (2017): Awarded for the marvelous contribution he has made to the cricket community in India, making him a national hero.
3. Arjuna Award (2013): The rising star of sports in India award.

Some ICC Awards

The Origin of Cricket

Would you be shocked if you found out that Cricket was not an Indian sport to begin with? Yes, despite being the national sport of India, it was not introduced by the Indian society.

The British introduced cricket in the 1700s during colonial rule. The sport was first documented in 1721 when only the British played it, and the first ever recorded match with Indian players occurred in 1851. In 1729, the English Military Faculty made the first Cricket Club called the ‘Calcutta Cricket Club’.

The first cricket club run by India was officially established in 1848 by the Parsees, who were a Mumbai-based Zoroastrian community. After the establishment of the club, the players played their first European match in 1877. The idea of cricket as a sport started to become popular in other cities and states of India, like Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, by the mid-18th century.

Women’s cricket was not that popular at the time because it was mostly played by men.

The sport started with only British players, but it captured the interest of people all around India, and now it is the heart of India that almost every child has played or still plays cricket to this day while proudly calling it their national sport.

Virat Kohli Net Worth

If you search up Virat Kohli’s name and look at images, you’ll see that he is quite the wealthy man. You wonder how much he actually gets paid from all these competitions and awards?

If we were to talk about the approximate estimated net worth of the chase master, it would be around Rs. 1,050 crore (US $126-127 million). This makes him one of the richest sportspeople in the world, giving him the freedom to live a comfortable and fulfilled lifestyle that we see online. The income streamlines include cricket contracts, luxury assets, endorsements, and business ventures around the world.

Personal Life

On December 11, 2017, the marriage of Virat Kohli and the star actress of Bollywood, Anushka Sharma, took place. Their daughter, Vamika, was born in January 2021, and their son, Akaay, in February 2024. The couple prioritizes keeping the majority of their personal life private and away from the eyes of the media for the safety of the family.

Fitness and discipline are the two things that the cricketer is known for, which are the leading contributors to his success on the field. Through the Virat Kohli Foundation, he supports underprivileged kids and in the promotion of sports development as a whole.

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Conclusion

“King Kohli” and “Chase Master” are two of the many names this legend has gotten because of the field. His life story teaches us that working for a passion can lead to great heights, along with difficult choices that you might have to make in the early years of life, like how he prioritized cricket over college and further education. Sometimes taking a risk can help you find your right path, and that is the biggest satisfaction one can get.