Virat Kohli, by pure statistics, stands as one of the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket. The 36-year-old has led India in 213 international matches across all three formats. During his tenure, India won 135 games and lost 60, with 3 matches ending in a tie, 11 drawn, and 4 producing no result. Only MS Dhoni, among Indian captains, has led the team in more matches, with 332 across formats and 178 victories. However, Kohli’s win percentage of 63.38 surpasses Dhoni’s 53.61, yet Kohli’s leadership has often been questioned due to his inability to secure an ICC event win. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won three ICC white-ball trophies.
Despite the lack of an ICC trophy, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has praised Kohli’s leadership. In a conversation with Sports Today in November 2021, Gavaskar acknowledged Kohli’s lack of success in ICC tournaments but emphasized that Kohli had steered India to victories in numerous prestigious bilateral series, both at home and abroad.
“When you look at bilateral series, whether it’s at home or overseas, India has won most of them. But India hasn’t done that well in multi-country events. You’ve got to balance that out. India has won more matches under Virat Kohli than under any other captain,”
Gavaskar noted.
He continued, “I would prefer an ICC trophy because a multi-country event championship is something you would cherish. But it also depends on the bilateral series you’re talking about. If you win a bilateral series against Australia, that’s as big as winning the World Cup. Similarly, winning a T20I series over England and West Indies is also something to cherish.”
When it comes to Test cricket, Kohli is India’s most successful captain, having led the team in 68 Test matches, winning 40 of them. Dhoni (27) and Sourav Ganguly (21) trail behind in the number of Test victories as captains.
As for ICC events, Kohli came close but was often thwarted at the final hurdle. India finished as runners-up in the 2017 Champions Trophy, losing to Pakistan in the final after dominating the tournament. In the 2019 World Cup, India reached the knockout stages but were eliminated by New Zealand in the semifinals. Kohli also led India to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, but they were defeated by New Zealand in the final.
