How a Boy From West Delhi Became King Kohli

Virat Kohli's untold story: how a boy from West Delhi, who lost his father one December night in 2006 and still went out to bat the next morning, became the King of cricket. Narrated in Hindi, with English subtitles (turn on CC). In this video: • The night of 18 December 2006, and the 90 he made the next day • The academy, and the "little extra" his father refused to pay • Under-19 World Cup captain, the IPL draft, and why he wears 18 • 2011, Hobart, and the mirror that started a fitness revolution • England 2014, Adelaide, 973 IPL runs, 10,000 ODI runs • The 1,020-day drought, the captaincy, and the comeback • The 50th ODI hundred, the 2024 T20 World Cup, RCB's titles and 2026 CHAPTERS 0:00 The night of 18 December 2006 0:29 A boy from West Delhi 1:20 The bribe his father refused 1:45 The morning after 2:43 Under-19 World Cup captain 3:09 The IPL draft and jersey 18 3:58 The 2011 World Cup 4:29 Hobart: 133 not out 4:53 The mirror and 40 toffees 5:19 England 2014 to Adelaide 6:13 973 runs in one IPL season 6:32 Marriage and a new diet 7:06 Edgbaston 2018 7:53 The drought and the captaincy 8:34 The comeback 8:55 The 50th ODI hundred 9:29 The 2024 T20 World Cup 9:50 Farewell to Tests, RCB's titles 10:45 Virat Kohli today 11:12 The takeaway SOURCES (statistics as of 30 September 2026) • National Geographic Mega Icons, via CricTracker (Sep 23, 2018); Graham Bensinger interview, via Odisha TV (Nov 5, 2023) • The Telegraph, "the making of India's captain", via Gulf News (Jul 30, 2018); The Quint, coach Rajkumar Sharma (Nov 4, 2018) • The Times of India, his mother (Mar 3, 2008); his chat with Sunil Chhetri: Gulf News, Asianet Newsable, Outlook/ANI (May 2020) • ESPNcricinfo scorecards and commentary (Dec 2006, Aug 2008, the 2011 final, IPL 2016, Jan 15, 2022); The Indian Express (Dec 2006) • ESPNcricinfo, the IPL draft (Mar 10, 2008); The Quint (Feb 2, 2022; Sep 8, 2022); CricXtasy (May 18, 2023); ICC (Dec 25, 2009) • RCB Bold Diaries (Apr 2, 2022); RCB (Jul 28, 2020); Sky Sports with Dinesh Karthik (Aug 2021); ESPN (Dec 8, 2023) • Deccan Herald/PTI (Feb 19, 2021; Aug 27, 2022); ANI (Dec 9, 2024); Al Jazeera (Dec 11, 2014); Cricscope (May 21, 2026) • Scroll (Feb 19, 2021); Wisden (Apr 3 and Aug 29, 2020); Gulf News (Oct 24, 2018; Nov 23, 2019; Sep 25, 2020); India TV (Feb 25, 2023) • PIB (Sep 25, 2018); ABC/AAP (Jan 7, 2019); Tribune (Dec 16, 2021); Business Standard (Sep 6, 2022); Outlook (Oct 24, 2022) • Al Jazeera (Nov 15, 2023; Jun 29, 2024; Jun 5, 2025; Sep 26 and 28, 2026); Sachin Tendulkar's post, via ClutchPoints (Nov 16, 2023) • ICC (May 6 and 12, 2025); ESPN (Jun 3, 2025; Jun 1 and Sep 27, 2026); Sportskeeda (Aug 2, 2021) ABOUT THIS VIDEO Famously Untold is an independent channel, not affiliated with or endorsed by Virat Kohli, the BCCI, any team or anyone featured in this video. Every fact comes from the public sources above, as of September 30, 2026; English quotes are verbatim. His father died in the night of 18 to 19 December 2006 (Virat says the 18th; reports put it at about 3 am on the 19th). Every photo carries the date it was taken. Spotted an error? Tell us in the comments and we'll pin a correction. PHOTO CREDITS (via Wikimedia Commons; cut out from their backgrounds, cropped and colour-graded for this video) • Dec 2010, batting: lensbug.chandru (Flickr), CC BY 2.0 • 31 Aug 2013, Arjuna Award; 30 Mar 2017, Padma Shri; 25 Sep 2018, Khel Ratna: President's Secretariat / PIB, GODL-India. Cropped to him. • 4 Jan 2015, Sydney Cricket Ground: NAPARAZZI (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0 (our edits are shared under the same licence) • 7 Apr 2015, IPL opening ceremony: Bollywood Hungama, CC BY 3.0 • 6 Nov 2017, portrait: Anand Anil, CC BY-SA 4.0 (our edits are shared under the same licence) • 20 Dec 2017, New Delhi; 9 Mar 2023, Ahmedabad; 4 Jul 2024, New Delhi: Prime Minister's Office / PIB, GODL-India (thumbnail illustration A was painted from the 2024 photo) • Aug 2018, Trent Bridge: Dun.can and It's No Game (Flickr), CC BY 2.0 Animation, graphics and thumbnails: original artwork. Trophies, kits and props are generic drawings, not the real designs. Subscribe to Famously Untold for more stories behind the names. #viratkohli #kingkohli #biography #untoldstory