Popular sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik gave a fitting tribute to Virat Kohli on his 36th birthday on Tuesday, November 5. Pattnaik drew Kohli and a bat using sand and colors at Puri Beach in Odisha.
As per reports, he created a five-foot sand sculpture using nearly four tons of sand. Students of his sand art institutions also aided Pattnaik in the making.
Sharing the post on X, Sudarsan Pattnaik wrote:
“Happy birthday to the incredible cricket icon @imVkohli, a legend in every format of the game, My SandArt at Puri beach in Odisha.”
Watch the video below:
Virat Kohli has established himself as one of the biggest players in the history of world cricket. The Delhi-born cricketer is often compared with legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar owing to his records that speak for itself.
Virat Kohli is the 4th-highest run-scorer in international cricket
Virat Kohli is the fourth-highest leading run-scorer in international cricket, only behind Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and Sachin Tendulkar.
Leading run-scorers in international cricket:
- Tendulkar – 34,357 runs in 664 matches
- Sangakkara – 28,016 runs in 594 games
- Ponting – 27,483 runs in 560 games
- Kohli – 27,134 runs in 538 matches and counting
Kohli made his India debut in 2008 against Sri Lanka in ODIs and has not looked back since. He has represented the Men in Blue in 118 Tests, 295 ODIs, and 125 T20Is, scoring 9040, 13, 906, and 4188 runs, respectively. He is the only player to hit 51 tons in ODIs. He is only behind Tendulkar (100 centuries) with 80 hundreds in international cricket.
Earlier this year, Kohli announced his retirement from T20Is after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup. The right-handed batter scored a match-winning 76-run knock in the final against South Africa. He ended his career among only three players with 4,000 runs in the format alongside Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam.
Apart from runs, Kohli is India's most successful Test captain. He led India to 40 wins in 68 Tests, including 11 draws. Overall, he has led the Men in Blue to 95 victories in 131 matches across formats.
Apart from international cricket, Virat Kohli is the only player to score 8,000 runs in Indian Premier League (IPL). He has been retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for a whopping ₹21 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, making him the second costliest retention alongside Lukcnow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran.
Heinrich Klassen emerged as the costliest retention for whom SunRisers Hyderabad splurged ₹23 crore. As per reports, Kohli is likely to return as captain next year.
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