Virat Kohli's career team-mates XI so far

The cricket fans in India were worried when Sachin Tendulkar was in the final stages of his career. The man who won the country many matches was soon going to hang up his boots. While everyone expected that India would need a few more years to find a batsman of such calibre, the man who was carrying Tendulkar on his shoulders in the World Cup win celebrations was thinking otherwise.

Virat Kohli became the true successor to Sachin Tendulkar and the fan's hopes of another World Cup win would rest on him. Virat himself has been lucky to start his IPL and India career where he got to learn from the legends of the game.

In this slideshow, we have compiled a list of players who have influenced his game and motivated the youngster. Hence, naturally, they are the best players Virat Kohli has ever played with.

OPENERS: SACHIN TENDULKAR AND CHRIS GAYLE

Sachin Tendulkar walks into any best squad in the World. He has been Kohli's inspiration and role-model and will open the innings for this team. The opportunity to witness Sachin and Kohli bat will excite a lot of cricket fans.

The Gayle-Kohli partnership was one of the attracting reasons to watch IPL. They still hold most of the records in the IPL and their bonding impressed many of the fans. Gayle has been a terrific performer for Windies across formats and he will partner up with Sachin at the top.

MIDDLE-ORDER: VIRAT KOHLI, AB DE VILLIERS AND YUVRAJ SINGH

All the 3 have played together at RCB

Rahul Dravid is one of the best No.3's to have played with Virat. However, Virat Kohli's current form will confirm his spot in any squad.

ABD is the middle-order player to have played alongside Virat. Though he has quit international cricket, we can witness one more season of their partnership in the IPL next year.

Yuvi's bond with Virat has been an excellent one which has resulted in a lot of wins for India. Their on-field camaraderie is good to watch and this middle-order will cause a worry to any other team.

WICKETKEEPER: MS DHONI

India's World Cup chances rest on this duo

Though Virat has played with excellent wicketkeepers such as Mark Boucher, his partnership with Dhoni has been a memorable one.

They have won many games together and they will look to win the World Cup next year. MS Dhoni has been India's best keeper and hence he will be an automatic choice to this squad.

ALL-ROUNDER: JACQUES KALLIS

Kallis played with Kohli at RCB

Virat Kohli and Kallis were part of RCB in the first 3 seasons of IPL. Though Kohli was a youngster at that time, Kallis was at the peak of his career. Kallis is one of the best all-rounders that the world has seen and Kohli's game would have improved due to this interaction.

Although Kallis would have been a perfect pick at the top of the order, he might have to play at this position due to team balance. Virat has also walked on to the field with great all-rounders such as Shane Watson and Dilshan too.

SPINNER: ANIL KUMBLE

Kumble has been one of the first mentors of Virat

Virat and Kumble have had partnerships both on and off the field. While they were part of RCB together, they spent one year as captain-coach of the Indian team too.

Kumble was at the fag end of his career when Virat entered the scene and hence Kumble's influence on Virat would have been positive.

Virat has also played with other pinners such as Vettori and Muralidharan too.

FAST BOWLERS: MITCHELL STARC, DALE STEYN AND ZAHEER KHAN

Steyn played with Virat at RCB

These 3 bowlers have all topped the ICC bowling charts at various points in their career. They are the best set of bowlers in the last decade and Virat has had an opportunity to play with all the three of them.

While Steyn was part of RCB's set up in the first 3 seasons of IPL, Starc represented RCB in season 6 & 7. Zaheer has played with Virat both with India and RCB.

Probably, this experience has developed Virat into a captain who is using the pacers to finish games, unlike the previous Indian captains.