Virat Kohli took everyone by surprise when on Saturday (January 15) he took to Twitter to announce his stepping down from Test captaincy. The announcement came right after India's Test series loss in South Africa.
When the 33-year-old took the baton of Test captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2014, who knew Virat will not only lead the India side but also take them to the pinnacle of Test cricket.
In the 68 matches that Virat Kohli captained, India won 40, lost 17 and drew 11. Out of the 40 victories, 24 were at home and 16 were away wins. India did not lose any Test series at home under the captaincy of Kohli. India won all 11 series at home. India have only lost two tests at home under the 33-year-old batter.
India won its first Test series win Sri Lanka under Kohli in 2015. The right-handed batter also became the first Asian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil in 2018/19 . India are also leading a 2021 Patatudi Trophy in England by 2-1 under him.
Kohli holds the record for most Test matches as captain for India with 68 matches. He surpassed MS Dhoni's tally of 60 Tests as India Captain. Kohli played his 61st Test match as Captain in the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand.
With 40 wins in Test matches, Kohli is the most successful Indian Test captain. He's followed by MS Dhoni with 27 wins as captain.
Kohli has scored most Test centuries for India as captain. With 20 centuries since being an Indian Test skipper, Kohli is only behind Graeme Smith (25) with most Test hundreds as captain. His last Test ton came against Bangladesh in India's first-ever Pink-Ball Test in 2019.
Kohli has scored seven double centuries in his Test career. Coincidentally, all of his Test double tons have come during his tenure as captain. This also puts him first on the list of most double centuries for any Test captain.
Kohli also holds the record for scoring most Test runs for India as captain. In 66 Tests so far, Virat has scored 5703 runs at an average of 55.36 including a highest score of 254* against South Africa.
Kohli took over as India’s Test captain in 2014. India was ranked 7th in the world rankings. India are currently ranked number one in the world. The Delhi batter also led India in the maiden ICC World Test Championship finals which India eventually lost to New Zealand.
With a series win in Australia and a 2-1 lead in England, South Africa was supposed to be the final frontier. India were leading 1-0 but couldn’t replicate the heroics in the remaining two games. Had India won the Test series, Kohli could have become the first Indian captain to win a Test series in the rainbow nation.
