VIRAT KOHLI

Virat Kohli (born November 5, 1988) is an Indian international cricketer. He was the captain of the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. He represents Delhi in first-class cricket. He played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 and 2009 Indian Premier League. He learned his cricket in the West Delhi Cricket Academy.Kohli is a middle order batsman, who can also open the batting. Kohli with 784 points is on first position with South Africa’s batsman A.B. De Villiers in the ICC ODI rankings for Batsman. He is known for his shots through the cover region. He can also bowl right arm medium pace.Kohli first came into the limelight when he played for Delhi in a Ranji trophy match against Karnataka on the day of his father's death. His team mates needed him at a crucial moment when he was much more needed at home. But he said that he wanted to bat and scored 90 runs. This shows his determination towards cricket.The innings was crucial in saving the match for Delhi.Kohli captained the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia.Batting at number 4, he scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47, including a century against the West Indies U-19s. He was also commended for making several tactical bowling changes during the tournament.Kohli was instrumental in India's win of the 2009 Emerging Players Tournament in Australia. In the final against South Africa, Kohli scored a century for India. India went on to win the game by 17 runs. Kohli emerged as the leading run scorer of the tournament, aggregating 398 runs from seven matches including two centuries and two fifties.Kohli played for at the 2008 Indian Premier League.He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $30,000 before the first season of IPL in 2008. He did not perform well in his first season of IPL, scoring only 165 runs in 13 innings at an average of 15 and taking only 2 wickets in his bowling both of them against Deccan Chargers and taking only 2 catches in the entire season. But he improved marginally in the second season of IPL scoring 215 runs of 11 innings with an average of 21.5 and taking 9 catches and 2 run outs. In the third season of the Indian Premier League he scored two half centuries. Interestingly he was the only player that Royal Challengers Bangalore retained, preferred over the likes of Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor.