On Saturday, Indian star Virat Kohli took everyone by surprise as he stepped down from Test captaincy. Kohli, who left the T20I captaincy before being replaced as ODI skipper by Rohit Sharma last year, enjoyed a tremendous time as Team India’s leader.
Kohli’s major announcement came a day after India’s Test series defeat against South Africa. Many fans and experts reckoned the Indian team to win a maiden Test series in the rainbow nation, but Dean Elgar’s side outplayed the visitors and clinched the series 2-1.
Notably, Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni in 2015 and led from the front to take the team to newer heights and memorable triumphs. The 33-year-old ended the Test captaincy as the most successful skipper in Indian cricket. Under him, India won the most 40 Tests, 13 more than the previous best Dhoni.
When it comes to the overall records, Kohli is the fourth most successful Test skipper after Graeme Smith (53 wins), Ricky Ponting (48 wins), and Steve Waugh (41 wins).On that note, let’s look at Kohli’s records and achievements as India’s Test captain
- 20 centuries – Kohli smashed 20 Test centuries as captain, which is the second-most for any player after Graeme Smith (25).
- 7 double hundreds – Kohli holds the record of hitting most double tons in Test cricket as a captain. He has seven double centuries to his name in red-ball cricket – all came after he became the leader of India in Tests.
- 16 away Test wins – Under Kohli, India won 16 Tests in away conditions which is the highest after former skipper Sourav Ganguly, who had won 11 Tests.
- First Asian captain – In 2019, Kohli became not only the first Indian but also the first Asian captain to record a Test series win in Australia.
- 5864 runs – Kohli has 5864 runs to his name as captain, which is the highest among Indians. Overall, he sits at the fourth spot after Graeme Smith (8659), Allan Border (6623) and Ricky Ponting (6542).
