“We maintain that drawing a Test match has to be the last option for our group of guys right now,” Virat Kohli said in 2015 during a post-match presentation after India beat Sri Lanka in the third-Test match of the series.
And Virat Kohli lived up to these words during his tenure as Test captain. January 15, 2022, marked the end of an era with Kohli stepping down as Test captain. The 33-year-old was named the captain of the Test side when India were ranked 7th in the ICC listings and he stepped down with India topping the charts.
It was 2014 when the whole world witnessed a leader in Kohli who was then called a run-machine with a brash attitude. Kohli led India against Australia when then captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sat out due to fitness issues. Opted to bat first, Australia posted a massive 517-7 decl on the scoreboard courtesy of David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith centuries. On his first big challenge as a leader, Kohli stood out with a century against one of the most fierce bowling attacks of that time.
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Despite his century, the hosts managed to take a crucial 73-run lead and they added 290 more runs to it in the second lead to set up a target of 364 for India. For many captains, chasing such a total on Australian soil was almost an impossible task, but Kohli decided to give it a chance as drawing was always the last option for him. The leader in Kohli stood strong against Australia and scored 141 runs in second innings, however, India lost the match by 48 runs. The defeat was hurtful but the cricketing world witnessed that a new era is about to begin in Indian cricket. Dhoni made a shocking decision to retire from Test cricket midway during that tour and Kohli was named the captain.
India lost the series 0-2 but Kohli, who was going through a lean patch after a horrible England tour in 2014, scored 692 runs in 4 Tests to silence his critics.
There were no questions about the calibre of Kohli the batsman but people were doubtful of his captaincy abilities due to his attitude. And he silenced all his critics by leading India to great heights. He instilled a belief in everyone that India can win in any condition against any opposition and the journey of the era started in 2018 when India toured South Africa. Kohli and Co. lost the series 1-2 but the win in Johannesburg Test in difficult conditions was a hint that something special is around the corner for this Indian team.
India then travelled to England which was a bigger challenge for Kohli as a batter as on his last tour there, he struggled miserably with 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in five Tests, for an average of 13.50 in 10 innings. The Delhi-born was ready for the challenge this time and he scored 149 runs in the first innings of the tour to warn the England team. India lost the series 4-1 but they did up a show as they put England on their toes and had a chance to win every match except the Lord’s Test.
The results were not coming in the team’s favour but Kohli was getting more confident with each series passing and had a belief of becoming one of the most dominant sides in Test cricket.
And there came the iconic India tour of Australia. No Asian team was able to win a Test series Down Under until Kohli decided to change the script and shake up things. The Indian team beat the Aussies in their den with a 2-1 series win which could have been 3-1 if the rain didn’t play a spoilsport in Sydney. King Kohli roared at every venue in Australia with his alpha male aggression and everyone sensed that this team is special and Kohli as Test captain is something which India needed at that time.
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India went on to win another Test series Down Under in 2021 where Ajinkya Rahane was the leader in charge after the 1st Test as Kohli was on paternity leave. The Asian giant registered another 2-1 Test series win on Australian soil in Kohli’s absence but the belief in the team was instilled by him that they can beat anyone.
In 2021, India returned to England to seek revenge for 2018. With one match yet to be played, India are 2-1 up in the series after a dominating outing last year, were following their skipper’s footsteps, the whole team wore their heart on the sleeves and completely outclassed the hosts. The last match of the series will be played in July this year but this time Kohli will not be leading the charge and the coaching staff will be different.
His love and admiration for Test cricket made the longest format relevant in the fast-paced era of T20 cricket. He brought a revolution as captain in the red-ball format in a way the Indian fans started following and loving it. He made sure that Test cricket gets the respect which it deserved and was one of the greatest ambassadors as the captain of one of the most dominant teams of this era.
Kohli ended his tenure as India’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins out of 68 Tests and a win-loss ratio of 2.353. India registered 16 Test wins under his leadership. Under Kohli’s leadership, India finished at the top of the ICC ranking for five consecutive years. However, it was often called that Kohli had the liberty of having the best bowling attacks which can take 20 wickets in any conditions.
But looking at some past captains, even Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni had one of the best batting units of cricketing history during their tenures. Ganguly had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag on his side and Dravid got the same liberty. While in the initial stage of his captaincy, even Dhoni had the same liberty with the addition of Gautam Gambhir to it.
No captain is bigger than the team but it’s the captain who instills the belief in their players on how they are going to play and Kohli did that. He might not be the tactician but he surely knows how to get on the nerves of the opposition and that’s what some of the greatest Test captains like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith used to do during their era. Ganguly, during his captaincy, gave hope to fans that India can dominate any team and Kohli achieved it.
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It will be a difficult challenge for the Indian team to cope up without Kohli as a leader as looking at the situation, they are not prepared for the transition. With Rohit Sharma, India always had a worthy contender for white-ball captaincy but in Test, there isn’t any at the moment.
There was a time when an overseas Test match win was celebrated as an achievement but Kohli the captain changed it completely. With the current standards, India start favourites in every condition against any opposition and it is going to be a big legacy to carry forward for the next captain.
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