Virat Kohli, Indian cricket team's captain turns 33 today

On Friday, Indian captain Virat Kohli turned 33 years old (November 5). The right-hander is India's poster boy, and the cricketing community has expressed its best wishes to the superstar batsman.

In 2008, Kohli made his international debut. While he did had flashes of brilliance and was a key member of MS Dhoni's triumphant 2011 ODI World Cup campaign, his rise in world cricket began in early 2012. Following his remarkable 183 against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup, he became the limited-overs vice-captain, and he also won hearts with his aggressive approach against the Australians.

He took over as Test captain in early 2015 after leading India for the first time in mid-2013. India has been placed No. 1 in the annual rankings for the past five years and finished second in the inaugural WTC under his leadership.

Kohli's success in limited-overs cricket is particularly motivating, as he averages more over 50 in ODIs (59.07) and T20Is (59.07). (52.01). He became the fastest player to 10,000 ODI runs in 2018, and he also won Player-of-the-Tournament honours in the last two T20 World Cups, in 2014 and 2016.

Kohli is also the highest run scorer in Twenty20 Internationals (3,225 runs). He has 70 international tonnes in total (43 in ODIs and 27 in Tests), which is third most in the world. At the highest level, he has a total of 23,159 runs.

Kohli has guided India to the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-finals as captain. He is now leading the Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup 2021 edition in the UAE for the final time in the shortest format. On his 33rd birthday, he will also be on the pitch when India takes on Scotland in their penultimate group stage match in the Super 12 round on Friday evening at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

India will be hoping for a massive win, with Kohli anchoring the innings and marshalling his troops with zeal to keep the one-time champions in contention for the semi-finals.

In terms of his personal life, the cricketing legend is married to Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, with whom he shares a 9-month-old daughter named Vamika. They're also in India's bio-bubble for the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

We wish Virat Kohli success in the future with the bat and as captain.