Happy birthday Virat Kohli: At 25, he is ODI cricket's No1 batsman, Indian vice-captain and India's new blue-eyed boy

With fans swooning over him and records all stacking up in his favour, Virat Kohli who celebrates his 25th birthday on Tuesday, November 5 is slowing and steadily establishing himself as the next big star of Indian cricket.

Born in 1988, a year before Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest batsman ever made his debut, Kohli will interestingly have an important part to play in 'The Little Master's' farewell series as the hosts look to send of their greatest player ever on a high.

After Sachin Tendulkar, what would happen to Indian cricket was a question that many asked but the rise of the likes of Kohli and others in the recent past has given hope to fans and observers of the game.

Kohli captained India in Malaysia to a World Cup win in 2008 in the Under-19 series and in the 50-over World Cup in 2011 scored a century in India's opening cause and a handy 30 odd runs as he helped his team win the title and tournament.

The final against Sri Lanka was the last time Sachin Tendulkar played in a World Cup and he was given a fitting farewell with his only World Cup win.

Virat Kohli scored seven hundreds, four of them in chases during his first three years in senior cricket as he matured from a hot-headed young man who frequently got into arguments with fans and rivals.

There was the finger pointing episode, him getting fined for abusive language and dissent often but as time passed the Delhi lad who had awesome talent with the bat gradually sobered.

Playing IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli now captains the team and has show immense maturity, that reminds many of his Under-19 charge to help India win in 2008.

The right-handed-batsman was picked in the Indian Test side in June 2011. Kohli scored his maiden ton in Adelaide which was India's only century of the 2011-12 series.

His impressive performance with the bat and his maturity as a player in the team lead to Virat Kohli's elevation to vice-captain.

In the past few matches the birthday boy has been in awesome touch and form with lusty blows and incredible number of runs coming off his bat that has lead to him climbing to the No1 spot in the ODI batsmen rankings that were released on Sunday.

Advertisers have also seen the potential in Kohli and he is now the new highest earner from advertisements beating Indian captain MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar.

Virat Kohli  holds the record for the fastest century by an Indian batsman. The 25-year-old recently became the fastest batsman ever to score 17 hundreds in ODI.

Kohli is also the first batsman to make five successive scores of 50 or more in ODIs on two separate occasions.

Considering that he is just 25 and holds a number of records, the future for Virat Kohli seems really bright.

Fans took to Twitter to wish him and the cricket star tweeted his thanks with this,

Thank you everyone for the wishes. Your love and support is priceless. 😊

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 5, 2013