Virat Kohli records at 38: the king who rewrote cricket

Some play the game. He rewrote it.

Virat Kohli turns 38 today, and cricket has never had anyone quite like him. The Virat Kohli records list reads less like a career and more like a rewrite of the game: 28,601 international runs, 86 hundreds, a World Cup, a T20 World Cup, two Champions Trophies and, after 18 years of waiting, two IPL titles in a row.

Great players win matches. Kohli changed what fans expect from a batter: fitness, intensity, and an almost unbreakable will to finish the chase. On his birthday, here is the story of the king, in numbers, trophies and the business empire he built along the way.

A boy from Delhi with a dream

Born in Delhi on 5 November 1988, Kohli announced himself early. In 2008, at 19, he captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title.

Within three years he was a senior World Cup winner, part of the team that lifted the trophy at home in 2011. By the middle of the decade he was India's leader across formats, and the most feared chaser in world cricket.

Numbers no one else has

Kohli's career is a list of records that may never be broken.

Some of them belong to him alone:

• The chase master. 8,741 ODI runs while chasing, and 6,477 in successful chases, both the most by any batter.

• The world beater. The only cricketer to average more than 50 in ODIs in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.

• The leader. 40 wins in 68 Tests as captain, and seven double hundreds as captain, a Test record.

• The award collector. 10 ICC awards, the most by any cricketer, including Cricketer of the Decade.

In 2023, he went past Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most ODI hundreds. He now has 55.

Made for the biggest stages

The true measure of greatness is what happens when it matters most. Kohli has saved some of his best for finals.

• 2011: World Cup winner at home.

• 2013: Champions Trophy winner.

• 2023: 765 runs at the World Cup, the most ever by any batter in one edition, and Player of the Tournament.

• 2024: 76 in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa, Player of the Match, and then retirement from T20 internationals as a world champion.

• 2025: Champions Trophy winner again.

He is the only cricketer to have won a 50-over World Cup, a T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy, the ICC Test Championship mace and the IPL.

18 years, one jersey

In an era of auctions and transfers, Kohli did something almost unheard of: he stayed. He has played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru since the first IPL season in 2008, through years of near-misses and heartbreak.

In 2025, the wait ended. RCB won their first IPL title. In 2026, they did it again, beating Gujarat Titans in the final, with Kohli unbeaten on 75.

He is the IPL's all-time leading run-scorer, and the only batter to score 600 or more runs in four straight seasons, from 2023 to 2026. Ee sala cup namdu, twice over.

The second scoreboard: Brand Kohli

Kohli's influence goes far beyond the boundary rope. Off the field, he has built one of the biggest personal business empires in Indian sport.

The net worth. Media reports put his net worth at around ₹1,115 crore in 2026, with endorsements making up nearly 60% of his income. These are estimates; Kohli does not publish his earnings.

The salary. RCB pay him ₹21 crore a year, making him the first Indian player retained for more than ₹20 crore. His first IPL contract, in 2008, was ₹12 lakh. His total IPL earnings are reported at more than ₹210 crore.

The endorsements. He is reported to earn ₹200–250 crore a year from brand deals, at roughly ₹7.5–10 crore per partnership. His MRF bat deal alone is reported at about ₹12.5 crore a year.

The brand value. For years he was India's most valuable celebrity brand. Even after retiring from Tests and T20 internationals, he remains in the top three, at $158.4 million in Kroll's 2025 report. He was also the first Asian to pass 250 million Instagram followers.

The businesses. He owns or backs a portfolio that runs from fashion to food to football:

• one8, his lifestyle brand and One8 Commune restaurants

• Wrogn, the youth fashion label

• Chisel Fitness, a gym chain

• FC Goa, as co-owner of the Indian Super League club

• Nueva, a Delhi restaurant run with Anushka Sharma

• Early stakes in Digit Insurance, Rage Coffee, Blue Tribe and Hyperice

From endorser to owner. The biggest move came this year. Kohli invested ₹40 crore in sportswear firm Agilitas in 2025, then merged one8 into it. After the merger was approved, his stake rose from 1.8% to 6.4%.

It is the same shift we tracked in the billion-dollar club of the highest-paid athletes of all time: the greatest players no longer just sell brands. They own them.

The takeaway

At 38, Virat Kohli has won almost everything there is to win, broken records that stood for decades, and built a brand that will outlast his playing days. Still, he talks about the 2027 World Cup like a man with something left to prove. That hunger is the real secret of the king.

At The Sports Columnist, we cover the money, deals and decisions behind sport. Every game has a second scoreboard, and Virat Kohli has topped both for nearly two decades.

Career figures are from ANI's birthday statistics and Wikipedia, as of 5 November 2026. Brand value is from Kroll's 2025 celebrity brand valuation report. Net worth, salary and endorsement figures are media estimates; the Agilitas stake is from PTI.

What is your favourite Virat Kohli moment?