Happy Birthday Virat Kohli: “He is the one who believes when no one else does” – Cricket fraternity reacts as former Indian captain turns 34

Senior Indian cricketer Virat Kohli turned a year older on Saturday (November 5). The cricket fraternity lauded the Delhi batter on turning 34-year-old by sharing special messages on social media.

Kohli is one of the most distinguished players in the history of Indian cricket. Since making his Team India debut in 2008, the veteran has never looked back.

He is the second-highest run-scorer for India in international cricket. He also holds the record for the highest number of runs in T20Is with 3932 runs in 105 innings.

The right-handed batter is also joint-second with Ricky Ponting to score the most number of international hundreds with 71 centuries, only behind legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli was part of the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions trophy-winning teams. He is also India's most successful Test captain with 40 wins from 68 matches. Under his captaincy, the team made it to the finals of the first-ever ICC World Test Championship in England.

Kohli is currently in Australia for the T20 World Cup. He has been making headlines for all the right reasons, wherein he is the top-scorer in the showpiece event with 220 runs with three half-centuries in four innings.

The BCCI shared a special video in which Kohli can be seen cutting the cake with Team India.

On the occasion of his 34th birthday, here’s how the cricket fraternity wished Kohli on social media:

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Mohammad Hafeez picks Virat Kohli as the most valuable batter in T20 World Cup

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has picked Virat Kohli as the most valuable batter in the T20 World Cup.

The star batter recently eclipsed Mahela Jayawardene's tally of 1016 runs for the most runs in the T20 World Cup.

Kohli is one of the leading contenders for the Player of the Series award in the ongoing T20 event.

In the opening game, he slammed a match-winning knock of 82* off 53 balls against arch-rivals Pakistan in Melbourne. He followed it with an unbeaten 62 off 44 balls against the Netherlands and an unbeaten 64 off 44 deliveries against Bangladesh.

Speaking to the ICC, Hafeez said:

"The most valuable batter in the T20 World Cup 2022 is Virat Kohli".

Virat Kohli will next be seen in action against Zimbabwe in Melbourne on Sunday (November 6). The Men in Blue will hope he continues his purple patch in the knockout stages of the tournament in a bid to lift their second T20 World Cup trophy after a 15-year gap.