Of all the youngsters expected to fill in the vacancies created by the imminent retirements of illustrious Indian batsmen, Virat Kohli has shown the maximum promise. And translated that promise into instant results.

Kohli got a call-up to the Indian ODI squad in 2008 after impressing on the domestic circuit for Delhi. He is also only the second captain of an Indian under-19 squad to have won the World Cup in that category. At the 2009 Emerging Players Tournament, he was the highest run-scorer, a performance which helped India win that edition.

Kohli, an athletic fielder, is the only player to have been retained by his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore, ahead of the 2011 auction. In 2010, he also became only the third Indian batsman to hit back-to-back centuries in ODIs, a distinction which put him in the same league as Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.