Virat Kohli: Biography of India's Chase Master

Childhood in West Delhi

Virat Kohli was born on 5 Nov 1988 in New Delhi to Prem Kohli, a criminal lawyer, and Saroj Kohli. He grew up in West Delhi's Uttam Nagar with an elder brother, Vikas, and an elder sister, Bhawna. His father took him to cricket nets as a boy, and at nine he joined the West Delhi Cricket Academy under coach Rajkumar Sharma, who remained his coach for years.

He studied at Vishal Bharti Public School and later Saviour Convent School so he could balance cricket and classes. He captained Delhi at under-15 and under-17 level. In December 2006, during a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi against Karnataka, his father died of a stroke. Kohli was told at the ground, batted on the next day and scored 90. He has said the match taught him to shut out everything except the next ball.

Under-19 World Cup and international debut

In 2008 he captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title in Malaysia. That August he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He was still a teenager when he was picked for the Indian Premier League's inaugural season by Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru), the franchise he has stayed with ever since.

He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in June 2010 and his Test debut against the West Indies in Kingston in June 2011. Earlier that year he was part of India's 2011 World Cup-winning squad under MS Dhoni, though he played a supporting role behind seniors such as Sachin Tendulkar.

Rise as a limited-overs batter

Kohli's game was built on timing, a compact technique and an obsession with fitness. He became India's most reliable chase finisher. In ODIs he has scored more centuries than anyone else: 55 hundreds in 318 matches, with 15,183 runs at an average of about 59, according to ESPNcricinfo figures updated in late 2026. His highest ODI score is 183.

He was named ICC ODI Player of the Year more than once and ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2017 and 2018. In the 2016 T20 World Cup he was player of the tournament. In Tests he scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches with 30 hundreds, including a highest of 254 not out. Across formats he has 86 international centuries, second only to Tendulkar's 100.

Captain of India

After Dhoni stepped down from limited-overs captaincy in 2017, Kohli became India's captain in all three formats. Under him India reached No. 1 in the ICC Test rankings and won the 2018 and 2023 Asia Cups. He led India to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil, where Australia won. He stepped down as T20I captain after the 2021 T20 World Cup and as Test and ODI captain after the 2021–22 season, handing over to Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket and later to others in Tests.

2024 T20 World Cup, then two retirements

Kohli was still central to India's white-ball plans under Rohit Sharma. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa in Barbados he was named player of the match as India won the title. After that tournament he announced his retirement from T20 internationals.

On 12 May 2025, aged 36, he announced his retirement from Test cricket. He said he wanted to focus on ODIs and franchise cricket. He continues to open or bat in the middle order for India in ODIs; his most recent ODI listed by ESPNcricinfo was against the West Indies on 27 Sep 2026.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and IPL records

Kohli has played every IPL season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru since 2008. He is the leading run-scorer in IPL history. Reports in 2026 put his RCB contract at about ₹21 crore a season. He has not yet won an IPL title with the side, a fact that still follows him in Indian cricket talk.

Marriage to Anushka Sharma and family

Kohli began dating the actress Anushka Sharma in 2013 after they met on a brand shoot. They married on 11 Dec 2017 in a private ceremony in Florence, Italy. Their daughter, Vamika, was born on 11 Jan 2021. Their son, Akaay, was born on 15 Feb 2024. The couple keep most of their family life private and have spent stretches of time in London as well as in India.

Business, fitness and net worth

Off the field he built the One8 brand with partnerships in fashion and lifestyle, and he has invested in coffee, insurance and other consumer companies. Media reports in 2026 put his personal net worth in a range of about ₹1,050 crore to ₹1,115 crore, with combined Kohli–Sharma family business estimates sometimes quoted higher. Those figures are journalist estimates, not audited rich-list valuations, so we treat them as approximate.

He is a vegetarian, a vocal advocate of high fitness standards in Indian cricket, and one of the most followed athletes on social media in the world.

Honours

India awarded him the Arjuna Award in 2013, the Padma Shri in 2017 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna) in 2018. He has multiple ICC individual awards and has captained or played in sides that won the 2011 World Cup, the 2013 Champions Trophy, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Legacy

Kohli changed what Indian batters expected of themselves: relentless running, gym work and a refusal to settle for 70 when a hundred was on. For a decade he was the face of Indian cricket after Tendulkar and Dhoni. Even after leaving Tests and T20Is, his ODI record and chase reputation still set the standard younger players measure themselves against.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. ESPNcricinfo: Virat Kohli player profile and statistics
2. Wikipedia: Virat Kohli (cross-checked dates, records and family)
3. DNA India: Kohli turns 38, net worth and education notes, Nov 2026
4. NDTV Profit: Virat Kohli net worth reporting, 2026
5. Times of India: Kohli–Anushka combined business portfolio reports, 2026

Facts checked against the sources above by Tulasiram Pemmadi on 9 Nov 2026 (IST). Where reliable sources disagree, the article says so. Spotted an error? See our corrections page or email contact@nextplayintel.com.

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