On Thursday, the soon-to-be-dad and Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli celebrates his 32nd birthday in Dubai, where he is leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cricket team in the Indian Premiere League (IPL) tournament.
The IPL is customarily hosted in India, but in light of the pandemic situation this year, it is being held in Dubai.
The game of cricket is not just limited to just being another sport in India – it’s a religion – and presently, captain Kohli enjoys loads of love from his fans, who fondly call him by other names like “Chiku” and “run machine”.
Happy birthday to @imVkohli sir .You really are an inspiration for all of us and I hope that you will continue performing well It’s a matter of pride for me that i am getting support from the @vkfofficial .#HappyBirthdayVirat #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/ZCPFXYIaJy
— Pooja Bishnoi (@poojabishnoi36) November 5, 2020
Happiest Birthday to the god player🔥 #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/XnmjRPStLx
— 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐚 𝐁𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐢 ♕🖤 (@tweethimanshu_) November 5, 2020
19 seconds visit to heaven with this Snacc @imVkohli
— Sɐɹɐɥ🌺 (@OneNOnlyyy) November 4, 2020
[ #HappyBirthdayVirat ]
[ #ViratKohli ]
Stream please 👉☺️👈 pic.twitter.com/yc1U26ymJS
Bringing in the celebrations to life, Kohli fans in several parts of the country posted pictures of them cutting cakes for their skipper’s birthday.
Happy birthday #ViratKohli Anna
— Tirupati Tarak 🇮🇳 (@tirupatitarak31) November 4, 2020
Im so Proud of Kohli Fan
My Village Boys Full celebration today 🥳👍🏻#HappyBirthdayVirat 🎉💙🎂#hbdviratkohli pic.twitter.com/cywVzzaoAo
Making sure that Kohli receives tonnes of love this day, people are also sharing emotional gestures, mirroring the attention Kohli bestows on his fans. A video of him making a disabled girl smile has been going viral on Twitter again. The video shows other cricket players just waving and walking past her, but then Kohli comes and totally cheers her up.
Too much arrogance in one video haina😌😌#ViratKohli no one is like you, aap best ho❤️
— Ayush Vaishnav (@AyushVa21516182) October 29, 2020
pic.twitter.com/S70VixBTzS #ViratKohli
Other veteran Indian cricket players including Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Yuvraj Singh have wished the cricketer a happy birthday calling him the one of the greatest Indian captains of all times.
Earlier in May, Kohli became the only Indian athlete to make it to the list of top 100 highest paid people in sports released by Forbes Magazine. Leapfroging more than 30 names from last year, Kohli secured the 66th spot in the Forbes list. Last year, he ranked 100th.
As per the magazine's estimates, Kohli earned around $26 million last year – including $24 million from his brand endorsements for companies like Audi and Puma.
Born in 1988 into a Punjabi family, Kohli was raised in New Delhi.
Making his first-class debut in 2006, he led the India Under-19 team to victory at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Following a starry entrance into the world of cricketing, Kohli made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against Sri Lanka at the age of 19. Today, he holds the position of Indian cricket captain.
Earlier in 2017, he married his girlfriend, Bollywood beauty Anushka Sharma after a four-year-relationship; the duo is now expecting their first child.
