Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli: Who became an IPL star first?

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. (Photo source: BCCI)

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are two of the finest batters to have played international cricket for India. Both of them are widely respected in the cricket fraternity, achieving several monumental feats and inspiring youngsters with the way they carry themselves on and off the pitch.

Rohit started his international career in June 2007. Later in the year, he was a part of India's squad that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. During the marquee event, Rohit played some crucial innings, including the unbeaten half-century against South Africa, which earned him the Player of the Match award.

Ahead of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Rohit was roped in by the Deccan Chargers for $750,000 a year. He played a key role for the franchise during its run to the title in 2009. The Mumbai cricketers also bagged a hat-trick in IPL 2009 against the Mumbai Indians. In the same season, he helped Deccan beat Mumbai Indians, hitting two sixes and two fours in the last over when 22 runs were required.

After spending three seasons at Deccan Chargers, Rohit moved to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2011 for $2 million (approximately INR 9 crore). The Nagpur-born went on to captain MI to five IPL titles. He took charge midway through IPL 2013 and helped Mumbai lift the coveted trophy. Only MS Dhoni has won five IPL titles as a captain, but Rohit did it in fewer seasons.

Despite being a great captain, Rohit has not been able to score as many runs as he would have liked in the competition. He has amassed more than 500 runs in a season only once, in 2013.

Speaking about Virat Kohli, the talismanic batter holds most of the batting records in the IPL. He led India to the U-19 World Cup title in 2008. The right-handed batter was subsequently picked by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for a reported amount of $50,000 in the U-19 draft. He made his international debut later that year.

Kohli did not hit the ground running in the IPL as a batter, having three quiet seasons. However, in IPL 2011, he performed splendidly, amassing 557 runs in 16 matches at an average of 46.41. Now, Kohli is the only Indian batter to have won the Orange Cap more than once. Kohli has the most runs, most fifties, as well as most centuries in IPL history. He has also hit the most number of fours and the third-most number of sixes in the tournament.

The 36-year-old is the first player to play 18 seasons for the same franchise. He led RCB from 2013 to 2021. During his tenure, RCB made it to the final in 2016 and to the playoffs on multiple occasions. No batter has been able to surpass Kohli's tally of 973 runs in a particular season of the IPL. He scored this mountain of runs in 2016.

Based on the points mentioned above, it can be stated that Rohit is the more accomplished captain, while Kohli has fared better as a batter. However, the former became a star earlier in the IPL, but it has to be mentioned that he was already a T20 World Cup champion when he played his first season in the cash-rich league.