EARLY LIFE

Virat Kohli was born on 5 November 1988 in Delhi into a Punjabi Hindu family.[14] His father, Prem Kohli, worked as a criminal lawyer and his mother, Saroj Kohli, is a housewife.[15] He has an older brother, Vikas, and an older sister, Bhavna.[16] According to his family, when he was three-years old, Kohli would pick up a cricket bat, start swinging it and ask his father to bowl at him.[17]

Kohli was raised in Uttam Nagar[18] and started his schooling at Vishal Bharti Public School. In 1998, the West Delhi Cricket Academy was created and a nine-year-old Kohli was part of its first intake.[18] Kohli's father took him to the academy after their neighbours suggested that "Virat shouldn't waste his time in gully cricket and instead join a professional club".[15] Kohli trained at the academy under Rajkumar Sharma and also played matches at the Sumeet Dogra Academy at Vasundhara Enclave at the same time.[18] Sharma recounts Kohli's early days at his academy, "He oozed talent. It was so difficult to keep him quiet. He was a natural in whatever he did and I was most impressed with his attitude. He was ready to bat at any spot, and I had to literally push him home after the training sessions. He just wouldn't leave."[19] In ninth grade, he shifted to Saviour Convent in Paschim Vihar to help his cricket practice.[15] Apart from sports, Kohli was good at academics as well, and his teachers remember him as "a bright and alert child".[20] Kohli's family lived in Meera Bagh until 2015 when they moved to Gurgaon.[21]

Kohli's father died on 18 December 2006 due to a stroke after being bed-ridden for a month.[15] Regarding his early life, Kohli has said in an interview, "I've seen a lot in life. Losing my father at a young age, the family business not doing too well, staying in a rented place. There were tough times for the family... It's all embedded in my memory."[22] According to Kohli, his father supported his cricket training during his childhood, "My father was my biggest support. He was the one who drove me to practice every day. I miss his presence sometimes."[