Virat Kohli at T20 World Cups - in pictures

Nov 02, 2022

Virat Kohli has become the top run-scorer in men's T20 World Cups, surpassing Mahela Jayawardene. He seems to reserve some of his very best for the tournament, where he has 1024 runs and counting in 25 matches at an eye-popping average of 85.33. Let's go back to where it all began...•Getty Images

Virat Kohli's love affair with Pakistan in World Cups began in 2012. India delivered a solid thrashing, courtesy his unbeaten 78. Needing this victory to stay alive, India posted their first Super Eights win in World T20s since 2007. Seen here are Umar Akmal and Yasir Arafat congratulating Kohli•Getty Images

How can we not talk about <i>that</i> innings against Australia in Mohali? Chasing 161, Kohli hit a masterful 82 not out off 51 balls, accelerating from 50 off 40. He ran like the wind and punished the Australian bowlers in the last four overs to power India into the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final

How can we not talk about that innings against Australia in Mohali? Chasing 161, Kohli hit a masterful 82 not out off 51 balls, accelerating from 50 off 40. He ran like the wind and punished the Australian bowlers in the last four overs to power India into the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final•Getty Images

In front of more than 90,000 fans at the MCG, India overcame Pakistan in an epic finish earlier in this year's tournament, and Kohli was at the centre of it with his unbeaten 82. From 31 for 4, Kohli and Hardik Pandya did a repair job for India, before Kohli teed off to add the finishing touches•AFP/Getty Images

Nerves? What nerves? A young Virat Kohli, playing his first T20 World Cup match, notched up a fifty against Afghanistan in 2012 in Colombo•AFP

Kohli was a run machine in the 2014 World Cup, accumulating 319 runs from six matches and also collecting the Player-of-the-Series award. Despite his 77, India lost to Sri Lanka in the final•ICC

"Sachin....Sachin..." Oh, wait. "Kohli... Kohli." On the big night at the Wankhede Stadium, Kohli brought up his highest score at the T20 World Cup, 89 not out, against West Indies in the 2016 semi-final. But it was a losing cause •Getty Images

Kohli took the record from Jayawardene against Bangladesh in Adelaide on November 2, 2022, with a flick off Taskin Ahmed to midwicket for a single in the seventh over of India's innings. He would finish the day with 64 not out off 44•Getty Images

His fitness had multiplied by 2016, and the hunger for runs undiminished. At a rain-soaked Eden Gardens, he delivered an unbeaten 55 to take India home against Pakistan•Associated Press

Kohli congratulates Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan after they break Pakistan's World Cup jinx against India with a 10-wicket romp in Dubai in 2021. Kohli made a sedate 57 here, in a tournament where he ended with 68 runs from three innings•AFP/Getty Images