Virat Kohli’s journey in the IPL: A timeline

An enthusiastic, young, bold and chubby-faced cricketer made his way in the Indian cricketing arena in 2008 after leading India U19 to a World Cup Victory. In the same year of his international debut, Virat Kohli was bagged by the United Spirits-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore in what would later become the world’s best T20 league: IPL.

Included in the side as an emerging player, Kohli went onto make his mark as one of the finest players in the history as he sits atop the list of most runs in the tournament today. In the 12-year-long journey of IPL, Kohli has been one of the very few who have played for just one franchise throughout their journey.

Kohli was made the full-time captain of RCB in 2013. However, he led them quite a few times in 2012 during Daniel Vettori’s absence. His career can be divided into the pre-captaincy era and post it and it seems that captaincy brought the best out of him as a batsman. Kohli scored 1639 runs at an average below 29 before captaining the team whereas he has slammed 3773 runs at an average well over 40 ever since the assumed captaincy.

Here is how his journey from an emerging talent to legend shaped up:

2008-09

He had a quiet first edition as he made trivial 165 runs in 13 matches at an average of 15. In the second edition, he continued his run with RCB but did not better his performance and ended with 246 runs in 16 matches.

2010-11

Averaging 27.90 in 16 matches, he made 307 runs in the tournament. Though this was not too bright, it was certainly better from the previous two seasons. His fortunes changed drastically in 2011 as he ended up winning the orange cap for his 557 runs at 46.41 in 16 matches and 4 half-centuries.

2012-13

RCB had a formidable top-order during these years with the likes of Ab de Villiers, Chris Gayle, etc. Kohli struck some match-winning partnerships. But after a prolific 2011 season, his form dipped and he got 364 runs at 28 from 16 matches. The 2013 edition was his 5th consecutive one with RCB and this was the same year he was handed the task of captaincy. Perhaps captaincy brought the best out of him and he ended up scoring 634 runs at 45.28 with 6 half-centuries in 16 matches.

2014-15

The 2014 edition was difficult for the team as they finished 7th and Kohli had a lukewarm season with the bat. He managed 359 runs in 14 matches at 27.61. After a cold season, he came back strongly in 2015 as RCB qualified for the playoffs and he scored 505 runs at 45.90 in 16 matches.

2016-17

The year 2016 was undoubtedly the finest of his IPL career as he slammed a record 973 runs at an incredible 81.08, 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries to bag the Orange Cap. However, the fortunes turned upside down in 2017 as RCB finished last in the tally and an injury led Kohli to miss the initial matches. He finished with 308 runs in 10 matches at 30.80.

2018-19

IPL completed a decade-long journey but RCB never got a chance to mark its name on the elusive trophy. After being retained for a whopping 17 crore INR, Kohli did shine with the bat as he scored 530 runs at 48.128 in 14 matches, though RCB finished 6th on the table. In the 2019 edition, the same story was repeated as RCB failed to make an impact. However, Kohli performed decently with the bat and amassed 464 runs at 33.14 in 14 matches