5 things Virat Kohli has done better than MS Dhoni as Test captain so far

On 30 December 2014, Indian cricket entered a new era with MS Dhoni quitting the Test arena and paving the way for Virat Kohli to take over as the team’s new skipper in the format. Kohli’s rise to the helm of affairs ushered in a new aggressive brand of cricket, one that has rarely been witnessed before in India’s rich cricketing history.

So far, the results have been highly positive as the Indians have won every full series that they have played under the Delhi cricketer’s leadership. Moreover, 2 out of the 4 series wins with Kohli captaining the side have come away from home, in Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Although it may still be early days to put Kohli in the same bracket as Dhoni, there are already certain things about the way that the former has led the team which give him an advantage over his predecessor.

Here are 5 things Virat Kohli has done better than MS Dhoni as Test captain thus far:

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#1 Trying to make things happen rather than letting the game drift

Virat Kohli ensures that he keeps his thinking cap on throughout

One of the biggest criticisms that MS Dhoni faced during his time as skipper of the Indian Test team was his tendency to allow the game to drift for long periods of time, especially in overseas conditions. This tactic from Dhoni often gave opposition teams enough leeway to claw their way back into the match and the outcome ended up being negative for India on several occasions.

Virat Kohli, on the contrary, is not one to sit back and wait for the opposition batsmen to make mistakes. Instead, he tries different ways and means, including changing the field settings and shuffling around his bowlers, in order to unsettle the batsmen and create chances for a breakthrough.

Kohli’s leadership is yet to be tested in conditions like those in England, South Africa and even New Zealand, for that matter. But if he can stick to this habit of trying to change the course of the match with some smart captaincy, we may see the Indian team achieve a lot of overseas success, too.

#2 Handling the pacers better

The way Kohli has managed his fast bowlers is quite impressive

Although the Indian spinners have brought captain Virat Kohli most of his success till now, the ace batsman has impressed everyone with the way he has used the pacers in his team. In fact, the current fast bowling quartet of Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have looked much more effective under Kohli.

MS Dhoni, quite contrastingly, was known for his lack of faith in the faster men and apart from a few occasions, most notably the Lord's Test in 2014, he couldn't really bring the best out of them. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, has been judicious in his use of pacers and has employed their services in the finest way possible.

One instance that comes to mind is the way he transformed Ishant Sharma into an angry yet impactful fast bowler on the tour to Sri Lanka last year. Recently, Kohli also fashioned an emphatic victory against New Zealand at the Eden Gardens with the help of his pacers.

#3 Leading by example

Virat Kohli has excelled with the bat since becoming captain

While Virat Kohli has been India’s best limited-overs batsman over the past few years, there was some amount of doubt about his credentials as a great Test batsman. However, the Indian Test skipper has put all these doubts to rest ever since he assumed his current role.

It all began with consecutive centuries in his first 3 innings as a captain and has continued till India’s last Test at Indore against New Zealand where Kohli got his second double century. In 17 Tests during which the Delhi cricketer has skippered Team India, he has scored 1456 runs at an average of 53.92 which is superior to his career figure of 45.56.

MS Dhoni, too, batted well enough for a batsman coming in to bat at No. 6 or No. 7 during his Test career, but apart from a few knocks, he did not make too many significant contributions with the bat to the team’s success.

In comparison, Virat Kohli has scored both his double centuries in Test cricket as captain and both have set up huge victories for India.

#4 Using a five-bowler strategy in away Tests

Virat Kohli has stuck to a five-bowler strategy while playing outside India

One of the key features of Virat Kohli’s Test captaincy so far has been his penchant for picking five bowlers in the team whenever they play outside India. This strategy from Kohli has reaped rich dividends so far as the Indians have won 4 out of 7 away Tests,on their two previous tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Former skipper MS Dhoni, though, always intended on having an extra batsman in the team and generally used part-time bowlers to fill in the quota of a fifth bowler. While this ploy worked well when India had a stronger bowling attack during Dhoni’s early days as captain, it backfired when some of the senior bowlers went out of the equation.

The absence of a full-time fifth bowler came to hurt Team India on a number of occasions during foreign tours as they failed to capitalise on advantageous situations. But with Virat Kohli’s insistence on the five-bowler strategy, there may be hope for the Indians to see some positive results in future overseas tours.

#5 Instilling the winning mentality within the team

Kohli believes in winning at all costs

Perhaps the greatest trait that Virat Kohli has displayed ever since he started captaining the Indian team has been his incredible zeal to win every match. This is one quality of Kohli which sets him apart from most of his predecessors, let alone MS Dhoni.

In the 1^st Test of India’s 4-match series in Australia at Adelaide, a Virat Kohli-led team were set a target of 364 to win the match. Considering the fact that the Indians just had the entire 5^th day to chase it down, any other former captain would have instructed his batsmen to put their head down and ensure a draw.

But Kohli’s thought process was completely the opposite as he thought that India had a realistic chance of winning the game and led the chase with an emphatic 141. Although the team eventually lost the match by 48 runs, the new Indian skipper’s decision to go for the chase drew a lot of applause from all quarters.

With India already having won 10 out of their 17 Tests under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, it is quite evident that he has successfully been able to instill a winning mentality into his team so far.