Virat Kohli once ranked 10th in ICC’s T20I all-rounder list; Know how he grabbed the spot

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was the country's highest-ranked T20I all-rounder at one stage in 2017 when the Delhi batsman was ranked 10th in the ICC rankings. According to Wisden, Kohli grabbed the number 10 position on ICC rankings for T20I all-rounders in November 2017, a year after his infamous over in the World T20, which saw West Indies beat India to advance to the final of the tournament. When Kohli first came to international cricket, he considered himself an all-rounder, including in the ICC U-19 World Cup. 

After joining the Indian national cricket team, Kohli continued bowling regularly in matches and was known as a part-timer in the side. Out of the 17 matches that Kohli had played between 2011 and 2013, he bowled in 11 of those, sometimes taking the ball for up to three overs. Kohli also started bowling for his IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore and by the end of 2013, he had entered the top-15 of ICC rankings for T20I all-rounders. Yuvraj Singh was in the number two position at the time and Kohli was sitting at number 14. 

When Kohli entered top-10 of ICC all-rounders' rankings

However, in 2017, Kohli entered the top-10 of ICC rankings for T20I all-rounders. Kohli was the number three T20I batsman when he entered the all-rounders' rankings and was not even in the top-100 of ICC rankings for T20I bowlers. The rankings update had come a year after the 2016 T20 World Cup, in which Kohli bowled against West Indies in the semi-final, which India eventually lost by 7 wickets with two balls remaining. Kohli had scored 89 runs in the game to help India post a total of 192 in 20 overs. 

When West Indies came to bat in the second innings and a partnership was brewing between Johnson and Simmons, skipper MS Dhoni summoned the part-timer to bowl in the 14th over. Kohli picked up the wicket of Johnson in his very first over. Dhoni trusted Kohli with one more spell and called him to deliver the 20th over. Kohli couldn't control the explosive West Indies batsmen and leaked 11 runs in the final over. Kohli never bowled a ball in the shortest format since then and also lost his place in the ICC all-rounders' rankings. 

(Image Credit: BCCI)