The year of Virat Kohli

Kohli, the India captain, is at the peak of his career, there’s no denying that. He is sitting comfortably on top in the Test and ODI batting charts of the MRF Tyres ICC Rankings.

Here are some of his spectacular numbers from the year gone by.

Improved numbers away from home: In the 50-over format, Kohli finished 2018 with a brilliant average of 133.55 – his personal best since his debut in 2008.

He kept the demons of the past at bay in the away series against both South Africa and England. While his batting average in South Africa before 2018 was 37.33, it rose to 86.88 by the end of 2018. In England too, he averaged 32.33 before the start of the year, lifting it up to 40.16 by the end of it.

He finished as the top-scorer of the three-Test series against South Africa, which India lost 2-1, scoring 286 runs at 47.66. Runs did not come easy; the pitches assisted pacers and batsmen had to play with grit.

The last time he travelled to England in 2014, he averaged only 13.40 in the Tests. In 2018, he not only had to find a way of scoring runs against the hosts, but also had the added responsibility of leading the side.

Though India lost the five-Test series 4-1, Kohli reigned supreme. He scored 593 runs, including two hundreds and three half-centuries. Also, his average stood to 59.30.

During the Boxing Day Test against Australia, he became the most successful Indian batsman abroad in a calendar year. He surpassed Rahul Dravid, who had made 1137 runs from 11 Tests in 2002; Kohli's final tally for the year was 1138 runs in the same number of matches.

**Most ODI runs in a bilateral series:**In the six ODIs against South Africa, Kohli registered scores of 112, 46*, 160*, 75, 36 and 129. His runs tally of 558 runs at 186 are the most by any batsman in a bilateral series.

**First to amass 2500 and more runs three years in a row:**In the past three years, Kohli has been one of the most consistent batsmen in the international circuit. In 2018, he became the first ever player to score 2500 and more international runs across formats third time in a row.

2016: 2595 international runs
2017: 2818 international runs
2018: 2735 international runs

**Second fastest to 24 Test hundreds:**On Day 2 of the Rajkot Test against the Windies, Kohli became the second fastest to reach to score his 24th Test hundred. He reached triple figures in 184 balls. Australia legend Don Bradman took 66 innings while Kohli completed the feat in 123 innings.

**First India batsman to hit three consecutive ODI tons:**Kohli was in sublime form at home against the Windies. He notched up three ODI hundreds in a row in the first three ODIs, becoming the first from his country to do so in the 50-over format. In total, he scored 453 runs at 151.00.

**Fastest to 2000 T20I runs:**In July, Kohli joined the likes of Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum and Shoaib Malik in an exclusive club. He became the fastest to cross the 2000-run milestone in T20Is in terms of innings played.

**Fastest to 10,000 ODI runs:**On 24 October 2018, Kohli became the fastest to 10,000 runs in ODIs, reaching the feat in his 205th innings – 54 innings quicker than Sachin Tendulkar! In the past, he also became the fastest to 8,000 and 9,000 ODI runs.