Virat Kohli

The player whom Ray Jennings, coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, once termed "a very talented kid [who] sometimes thinks he is better than the game," has since 2010 morphed into the face of Indian cricket, largely because of the stunning manner in which he has scored runs in ODI cricket and how he has changed consistently forced critics to change their opinions of him.

From the time he made his India debut, on the tour of Sri Lanka in the summer of 2008, Kohli drifted in and out the ODI side until he turned in an outstanding 2010. He was the year's second highest run-scorer after South Africa's Hashim Amla, and his form forced the Indian management to play him in every game of the 2011 World Cup. From marking his tournament debut with a century to lifting Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders after India won the Cup, and then spouting the quote of the year, Kohli has not looked back.

Assured at the crease and in possession of a solid technique that allows him to mesh defensive play with eye-catching shot-making – including the orthodox and the innovative – Kohli has flourished into the master of an ODI chase. Along the way, jaws have dropped and numbers churned over. After scoring 995 runs in 2010, Kohli crossed the 1000-mark in the next three years and in October 2013 became the first batsman to make five consecutive fifty-plus scores on two occasions.

Doubts over his Test credentials were dispelled somewhat during the painful 0-4 whitewash in Australia in 2011-12, during which Kohli was India's only centurion; since then, Kohli has matured in Test flannels and looks set to continue to his rise. His current stature in international cricket has certified that India is blessed to have a talent like Kohli coming through the ranks.