Virat Kohli has become India’s most matches as a captain in the longest format of the game. Before the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, Kohli was tied with MS Dhoni, with both of them having captained India in 60 Test matches.
The WTC final between India and New Zealand was off to a gloomy start after first day’s play was washed out due to incessant rain and wet outfields. However, the rain gods have shown mercy so far on Day 2, with the toss taking place, where Williamson chose to field after winning the toss.
Virat Kohli’s captaincy stint
Kohli captained India for the first time at the Adelaide Oval in December 2014. His full-time stint started after the series, however, following Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket. Ever since, Kohli has taken India to great heights in the longest format, winning the ICC Test Mace a record 5 times in a row.
After taking the reins, Kohli has captained India in 60 Tests, winning 36 of them while losing 14, a staggering win rate of 59.01%. Dhoni’s record of 27 wins was surpassed by Kohli in 2019. In terms of win-loss ratio overall, Kohli is only behind Clive Lloyd and Australian greats, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
With the bat in hand as captain, the 32-year-old is fourth on the list of the highest run-getters. He has scored 5,392 runs, only behind Graeme Smith (8,659), Allan Border (6,623), and Ricky Ponting (6,542). As for the number of centuries scored as a captain, Kohli is tied with Ricky Ponting at 41 centuries.
Although Kohli failed to score a century in a calendar year for the first time last year, he’ll have plenty of opportunities in the ongoing WTC final as well as the England series.
