5 times India lost an overseas Test from a winning position

#2 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide - 2014

This was Kohli's first Test as captain and he played two majestic innings

India toured Australia in 2014-15 season just prior to the 2015 World Cup and the events that took place before the Test series got underway saddened the cricketing world. 26-year old Phil Hughes passed away after being hit by a bouncer in a Shield game. As the entire world grieved over Phil Hughes’ death, the first Test was postponed by five days.

As the Test started, the India-Australia rivalry and sledging was underway as well. This was Virat Kohli’s first Test as Test captain after Dhoni missed out due to a hand injury. Australia batted superbly in the first innings, riding on tons from David Warner, Steve Smith and skipper Michael Clarke, posting 517.

Virat Kohli on his captaincy debut led India’s reply with a brilliant 115 helping India reach 444. Australia’s second essay was brisk with David Warner scoring his second hundred of the game and quick-fire contributions from Smith and Mitch Marsh helped Australia set India a target of 363 on the final day and gave themselves 98 overs to bowl India out.

Kohli’s aggressive nature was on show as India went after the target. Murli Vijay and Virat Kohli led India’s brilliant 185 run stand for the 3rd wicket. When Vijay got out, India’s score read 242-3 in 69.1 overs and with 121 runs to get and 7 wickets in hand India looked set for a memorable win.

But Nathan Lyon inspired a fantastic fight back and bowled Australia to victory picking up 7 wickets in the second innings. Even till Kohli was batting, India were in the game and on course, but once he fell, the writing was on the wall. Kohli’s majestic 141 went in vain as India fell 48 runs short of what could have been a memorable win.