However, over the years, there have been very few batsmen who have been as consistent as Kohli across formats. In fact, Kohli has scored more runs than any player in international cricket since his debut in 2008. With Kohli completing 10 years in international cricket today (18th August), let’s look back at his numbers on a yearly basis in all three formats.
2008
In 2008, Virat Kohli made his way into the Indian ODI team as a chubby cricketer who had just won the Under-19 World Cup a few months back. He was sent in as a replacement for Virender Sehwag who was injured. Sachin Tendulkar was unavailable for the series as well due to an injury.
He played all 5 games in that series against Sri Lanka and was the makeshift opener. He scratched his way to 12 on debut before getting out LBW. In 5 games, he scored 159 runs at a middling average of 31.80. He scored 54 in the fourth game and also scored 25+ in the rest of the games (barring the first one).
In 2008, it was only these 5 games that Kohli played as both Sehwag and Sachin recovered from injuries and the Delhi youngster was omitted.
2009
In 2009, Virat Kohli got a lot more opportunities and those opportunities came only late in the year. He was back to his preferred middle-order spot (he largely batted at 3 and 4).
He was a part of India’s Champions Trophy squad. He scored a good unbeaten 79 against West Indies in India’s last group stage game. He then played a couple of games against Australia but didn’t do much (he scored 30 and 10). But it was the series against Sri Lanka at home that saw him get a lot more consistent. In the three innings he batted, he got better with every knock. His scores read 27, 54 and 107 in that series. That 107 (his maiden ODI ton) came while chasing 316.
Overall, Kohli finished the year with 325 runs in 8 innings at an average in excess of 54.
2010
In 2010, Virat Kohli nailed down a spot in the Indian limited-overs set-up. He got a lot more chances at No. 3 and he was one of India’s most consistent players. He scored 3 hundreds (one each against Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand) in 2010 – all of which drove India to victory. He also scored 7 fifties throughout the year.
Early in the year, he scored consistently in the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He put in a couple of decent performances against a quality South African attack. His form saw a minor dip in Sri Lanka before scoring heavily against Australia and New Zealand towards the end of the year.
Kohli also made his T20I debut that year in Zimbabwe. He scored an unbeaten 26 which helped India polish off the 112-run chase.
2011
First World Cup hundred, World Cup winner, Test debut, Maiden Test fifty – all came in the year 2011. It was indeed a special year. Kohli started the year with some consistent performances in the ODI series in South Africa. He scored a couple of fifties and was dismissed only once in single-digits.
Then came the World Cup where his small contributions helped India quite a bit and his 35 in the final was a very important knock in the context of the game. He then went on to score ODI hundreds against England (both home and away) and West Indies. For the first time in his career, he scaled more than 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year.
He made his Test debut in June in West Indies that year. It wasn’t the most fruitful start to his Test career as he could only muster 76 runs in his first 5 innings. He then scored a couple of fifties against the same opposition at home and was selected for the tour to Australia. His year ended with 11 and 0 at the MCG.
In T20Is, he could only score 61 runs as it turned out to be another year dominated by ODI cricket for Kohli.
2012
Kohli absolutely dominated 2012 in all three formats. At the start of the year, there were questions marks about Kohli, the Test batsman. He answered his critics in style as he scored a scintillating maiden Test hundred against a rampaging Australian attack at Adelaide after a couple of good knocks at Perth.
In the tri-series that followed, he took his game a notch higher. He scored consistently and one knock that will stand out from that series will always be that unbeaten 133 that he scored against Sri Lanka when India needed to get 320 inside 40 overs. He continued his splendid form in the Asia Cup as he scored a couple more hundreds (108 vs Sri Lanka and 183 vs Pakistan).
His love affair with Sri Lanka continued when he struck a couple more tons in a 5-match ODI series later that year. It was the most fruitful year for Kohli in T20Is as well. He scored 471 runs in 13 innings which included 4 fifties.
In Test cricket, he struck hundreds against New Zealand and England at home, announcing himself into the Test arena.
2013
In 2013, Virat Kohli made his captaincy debut. He led the ODI side in the absence of MS Dhoni in the tri-series in West Indies and then in Zimbabwe. Kohli didn’t have the best of starts to the year in terms of ODI cricket. He scored just 168 runs in his first 7 innings. But he played really well in the Test series against Australia where he scored 284 runs at an average of 56.80.
In the Champions Trophy, he scored just one fifty but he played a vital knock of 43 in the final which helped India to post a competitive total. But in the tri-series in West Indies and in the following series in Zimbabwe, Kohli struck a couple of hundreds (as captain) and led India to series wins.
But it was the series against Australia which saw Kohli become the chase master. He scored two scintillating tons, 100* and 115* when India were chasing 360 and 350 respectively. He then capped off the year with some excellent performances in Tests in South Africa as he scored 115 and 96 in two innings at Johannesburg.
2014
As Virat Kohli admits, 2014 was a big learning curve for him, especially in Test cricket. He saw two extremes in the span of five-six months.
He started the year well scoring consistently in both ODIs and Tests in New Zealand. He scored heavily in 2014 T20 World Cup as well. In fact, he was the highest run-getter and received the Man of the Tournament award as well. He almost helped India win the T20 World Cup single-handedly.
Then came the tour of England which was the biggest low of his career. He scored a mere 134 runs in 10 innings in 5 Test matches. In the following ODI series, his form continued to stagnate as he scored just 54 runs in 4 innings before finishing off the tour with a 67 in a one-off T20.
He came back strongly as he scored heavily against West Indies and Sri Lanka at home in the two ODI series. And then in December 2014, he scaled some great heights. He made his captaincy debut in the first Test at Adelaide and scored two scintillating tons in that game. He then scored a superb 169 (and 54 in the second innings) at the MCG to finish the year.
2015
In 2015, Virat Kohli was handed the Test captaincy after MS Dhoni’s shock retirement from red-ball cricket after the third Test at the MCG. He started off the year with a bang as he struck his 4th century of the series at the SCG.
He then scored a century in the 2015 World Cup opener against Pakistan before there was a lull. He was criticised heavily for his under-par performances in the World Cup. However, he then led India to Test series wins against Sri Lanka (2-1 away) and South Africa (3-0 at home). Unlike his usual self, he wasn’t consistent in all formats. Hence, his average didn’t touch 50 in any of the formats in 2015. Also, for the first time since 2008 (his debut year), his ODI average didn’t go past 40 in a calendar year.
2016
Virat Kohli scored a staggering 2595 international runs in the calendar year 2016. In every format, he averaged in excess of 75 and in fact, in the two limited-overs formats, he averaged more than 90 (92.38 in ODIs and 106.83 in T20Is). He single-handedly drove India into the semi-final of the World T20 and even scored a fabulous 89 against the Windies in the semis.
In ODI cricket, he kept churning out runs and hundreds at will. He scored 739 runs in 10 innings which included 3 superb tons. In Test cricket, he scaled the 200-run mark for the first time in his career. And once he got there, he kept scoring double tons. He scored 3 double centuries in 2016 (one each against West Indies, New Zealand and England). It was the first time that he registered over 1000 runs in Test cricket in a calendar year.
In 2016, Kohli broke numerous records. He became the fastest to 25 ODI tons, fastest to 7,500 runs in ODI cricket, and only the third captain to score three double tons in a year.
2017
Kohli continued his ominous form in 2017 and continued to churn out hundreds at will. He scored 11 hundreds across formats in 2017 and was by far, the best batsman across formats in the world.
He started the year with a superb 122 against England chasing 350. He then struck his fourth double century in the lone Test against Bangladesh. But he then went through a lull where he scored just 46 runs in 5 innings against Australia at home. But that was the only low of 2017 as he led from the front almost every single time.
He scored 5 Test hundreds in which 3 were double tons and the other two were unbeaten tons. In ODI cricket, he struck 6 tons and went past Ricky Ponting’s 30 ODI hundreds to be ranked second in the list of most ODI tons.
The list will go on and on if one sits down to list the impact knocks Kohli played in 2017. He didn’t have the best years in T20 cricket but yet he surpassed his 2016 tally. He amassed 2818 runs across formats and was the highest run-getter in international cricketer in 2017.
2018
The year 2018 so far has presented India and Kohli a lot of challenges and the Indian skipper has stepped up and hasn’t disappointed. He has led the Indian batting from the front and in fact, in Test cricket, no player in the Indian team has crossed the 250-run mark in 9 Test matches and Kohli alone has scored 520 runs with hundreds in both South Africa and England.
In ODI cricket, he continues to bully the opposition and currently averages 124.83 after 9 ODIs this year. He’s scored 3 hundreds and 3 fifties and is yet to be dismissed under 30 this year in the 50-over format.
However, he hasn’t had the best of times in T20 cricket. He has scored just 146 runs in 7 T20I innings this year. But he’s once again scored heavily and looks set to surpass the 2000-run mark for the third consecutive year.
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