September 2017 to September 2018: Insane journey of Virat Kohli

When he made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2008, Virat Kohli was a youngster with great promise. But people used caution while predicting what he will achieve in the future given his over-aggressive style and uncontrolled show of emotions on the field. 10 years hence, we are talking about a player who is breaking records at an unimaginable pace. And the fact that he is doing it in all formats of the game makes it an interesting story to cover.

The Delhi boy is arguably the best batsman in the world right now with performances in all conditions and against all opposition. He is only 29 and has already scored 35 ODI tons placing him second to the great Sachin Tendulkar who had scored 49.

Talking about the number of tons in ODI run chases, Kohli has left behind Sachin Tendulkar by scoring 19 tons and we can surely say it with some confidence given his current form that he is the only halfway there.

9779 runs at an average of 58.20 in 211 ODIs are almost insane numbers and the same can be said about the T20 format where he has scored 2102 runs in 62 T20Is at an average of 48.88. Recently in the 4th Test against England, he reached 6000 Test runs and became the second fastest Indian to do so.

His journey from September 2017 to September 2018 is one big mountain of runs and here will try to focus on his biggest achievements in the past 12 months.

#1 13 International Centuries

Virat started his juggernaut from the ODI series in Sri Lanka where he scored 2 ODI centuries and most recently he scored his 13th century at Trent Bridge in the 3rd Test against England.

The highlight of the past 12 months has been his centuries away from home. 1 in Sri Lanka, 4 in South Africa and 2 in England. Virat currently has 58 international centuries and going by the hot form he is in, Sachin’s 100 centuries seems to be at a catchable distance.

The current England series where he won over the demons of the past series by adjusting well to the conditions prove that he has become a complete player now and centuries will keep flowing from his bat in the near future.

#2 3000 International Runs

Kohli was at 15000 International runs on 6th September 2017 and has amassed 18000 runs till 8th September 2018.

Given the number of centuries he scored in the past 12 months, it is not a surprise that he aggregated 3000 international runs in that period. He dominated all formats with the ODI series in South Africa his most productive one where he scored 3 tons.

Given that he took rest from a T20 series played against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh proves how consistent he was as he mostly scored against the stronger opponents like New Zealand, South Africa and England.

In the current series against England, he is on the verge of breaking Rahul Dravid’s 16-year-old record of scoring 602 runs in a series against England in England.

#3 One man show on overseas tours

The 2017-18 season was seen as a tough assignment for Kohli’s men where their ability in alien conditions was at the test. The team fought hard in South Africa but came well short from winning the series, in the end losing it 2-1. It was Virat Kohli and the bowlers who kept India competitive in the series.

His century at Centurion was a well crafted one against the likes of Morne Morkel and Rabada.

But it is in the current series against England that Kohli has won overall critics and has stamped his authority during testing times for the batters. Having scored almost 600 runs with one inning still to be played, Kohli has not only outdone his own batsmen but none in the English team came close to competing with him.

His century at Edgbaston brought India close to the target but his century at Trent Bridge was in a winning cause and will be remembered for years to come.