Virat Kohli and his Test Captaincy so far

India has just whitewashed Sri Lanka in the recently concluded 3-match Test series. Virat Kohli once again carried on his dream run as the Indian captain at Pallekele.

India are currently at the top of the ICC Test rankings. They have achieved that laurel and dominated under the leadership of Kohli. The team has bloomed both at home and away.

They have won 8 Test series in a row in this interval. Only England in 1884-1892 and Australia in 2005-2008 could secure this feat before them.

India has a great chance to overtake both to set a new record. If they win their very next Test series, they would be the first team in Test cricket history to win 9 successive series!

Kohli led the team for the first time during the first Test of the 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar trophy meet at Adelaide. He was given the responsibility since the regular captain MS Dhoni was down with a thumb injury. Eventually, Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket after the third Test of that series was drawn.

The Kohli era started on the last game of the series which took place at Sydney. Since then, he has led the Indian team in 29 test matches. The statistics about his tenure as captain are quite amazing.

India won 19 matches under his leadership, conceding just 7 draws. They lost only 3 Tests, twice to Australia and one against Sri Lanka. Kohli is third to MS Dhoni (27) and Sourav Ganguly (21) in terms of most number of Test victories as an Indian captain. He tops the same list when win percentage is the ranking criteria! India has won 65.51% matches they played when Kohli was the captain.

All these records indicate the brilliance of captain Kohli. It is really a difficult job to be the skipper of the Indian cricket team. The leader has to bear enormous pressure created from the infinite expectations of the large quantity of Indian cricket fans. The statistics say Kohli has been exceptional as a Test captain till now!

But, is it completely true? Does Kohli deserve the wide applause for making and breaking newer records everyday as a Test captain?

Well, the answer is 'no'. No doubt, he is one of the finest batsman in the current era, but the time has not yet come to regard him as the best captain. But why so?

To know why, we need to discuss about each and every Test series India played under Virat Kohli.

2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia)

The very first game that saw Virat as the Indian captain, ended in a loss for the visitors. It was the first Test of the four-match series against Australia in their soil. The approach of captain Kohli in this game sparked a debate among the cricket analysts. Australia set a target of 364 in front of India on the last day of the game.

They showed they are bloodthirsty and confident enough to take all the 10 wickets within the end of the day. Any other visiting team captain would have taken a defensive approach at this situation, in an aim to elicit a draw.

But Virat was daring enough to ask his boys to target a successful chase instead. He himself scored an attacking 141, and almost brought India close to a victory. However, a late collapse did not allow them to accomplish his aim.

While many had praised Kohli for such an aggressive approach, a few people reminded him that it was Test cricket, and even 'draw' is an art in this format.

In the Sydney Test, during Kohli's first game as permanent captain, a gritty Ajinkya Rahane helped India attain a hard-earned draw.

India in Bangladesh 2015

The one-off Test at Fatullah was damaged due to rain. Unfortunately, India was in a commanding position when rain stopped the play.

India in Sri Lanka 2015

The Sri Lanka tour of India was an important stop in the journey of Kohli as the Indian captain. The first Test at Galle saw a massive upset at India lost the game in the final session after commanding on every other.

Chasing a target of 176, India collapsed to 112 all out in front of Rangana Herath's lethal left-arm orthodox spin. Team Director Ravi Shashtri conducted the famous post-mortem session with the whole team post this game, which is said to have changed the mindset of the team forever.

Riding on some brutal bowling display by Ravichandran Ashwin, India went on to win the next two matches. As a result, India won a Test series in Sri Lanka after 22 years.

But during this period, the standards of Test cricket in Sri Lanka had already fallen down. It was the farewell series of legend Kumar Sangakkara, while greats such as Mahela Jayawardene or Muttiah Muralitharan retired long ago.

Indian spinners and batsmen had greater experience and skills than their counterparts. So, even a big Lanka fan would not have put his bet on the home team.

In the previous few series, India succumbed to some formidable spin attacks the hosts poised. Kohli was lucky that his team did not face much of that rather than an aged Herath.

2015/16 Freedom Trophy (South Africa in India)

It was the first home series for captain Kohli. And 'home condition' in subcontinent resembles some dry dusty spinning tracks! India welcomed the Proteas straightaway into some cracked pitches. Spinners Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja did the rest job for them.

The series saw some controversies regarding home advantages. Even the Nagpur pitch where India won the 3rd Test in just 2.5 days was tagged as 'underprepared' by ICC. It was impossible for even a star-studded batting lineup like South Africa to survive in such conditions. India won the series 3-0 but their batting stats looked pathetic.

India in West Indies 2016

The white jerseys accumulated after a long gap for a foreign trip. It was the first assignment of the newly appointed coach Anil Kumble. No doubt, West Indies has been one of the weakest Test teams in the last few years. With the focus shifted there towards T20 cricket, very less players show dedication for the longer version of the sport.

It was an easy series for India. The young Caribbean team could not offer many challenges to them. The quality of Test cricket was diminishing even in some of India's previous series against West Indies. Still, there were players like Shivnarine Chanderpaul or Fidel Edwards who showed some resistance in those occasions.

But this particular series was pitifully one-sided.

New Zealand in India 2016

Go! Spin! Surrender!

Well, this is the motto of any visiting team in India that does not belong to the subcontinentahead of a Test series. New Zealand was whitewashed 2-0 on 2012 under the captaincy of Dhoni. This time, they brought a team with a combination of some old and some new faces.

The organizers avoided the direct dusty spin theory due to the pandemonium created during the tour of South Africa previous year. Still, the Indians appeared invincible at home. They fared in every department, and Kohli led the team perfectly with the bat.

Another whitewash over the Kiwis set further milestones for captain Kohli. India attained the number 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings with this victory.

England in India 2016

Once again, India returned to the traditional spin agenda. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja made merry off the pitches, and the batsmen went on to set fresh batting records.

Karun Nair scored a triple century. Jadeja showed his all-round skills. Kohli scored another double century. England lost the series 4-0!

During their tour in 2012, spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann masqueraded as boomerang to the Indian spin theory. England even thumped the hosts at a margin of 2-1 in that 4-match Test series.

But on this occasion, spinners Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid faltered to grab any benefit from the conditions.

Bangladesh in India 2016

They maybe the new sensation in limited over cricket, but Bangladesh needs to improve a lot in case of Test matches. The one-off Hyderabad Test was just a setup for some batting practice ahead of the series against Australia.

Another easy win here helped Kohli achieve the 6th series win in-a-row.

2016/17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia in India)

Once upon a time, Australia was the fiercest and strongest cricket team in the world. The team led by Steve Waugh was considered as the best cricket team ever in the history of the game.

A miraculous partnership between Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the historic 2001 Kolkata Test held their way of winning 16 successive Test matches back then.

But Australia never won a single Test in India after their last triumph at the 2004 Nagpur Test! They were even whitewashed during their tour to India in 2013.

As India looked to be in great form this time, almost every Indian supporter demanded another whitewash from the team. But, Australia stunned everyone when their spin duo Stephen O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon went harsh on the strong Indian batting lineup. India succumbed to 105 all out and then 107 all out respectively in two innings of the first Test. A loss here ended the record 19-match unbeaten streak for captain Kohli.

India resumed the second Test with another poor batting display, but once again Ashwin and Jadeja stole the show on the final session of the game. They won the match by 75 runs, triggering a 6/11 collapse in the Australian second innings.

The series got heated up with DRS controversies, fake mocking image and sledging issues. Due to a shoulder injury, Kohli could not play the fourth Test. India won it and comp a 2-1 series win under the new captain Ajinkya Rahane.

Hence, India completed its 7th Test series win on a trot.

India in Sri Lanka 2017

India once again toured Sri Lanka with an aim to show its dominance over the format. The Lanka Test side was extremely inexperienced, except Herath who is still holding the flag of his nation at the age of 39.

India won the first two matches comfortably to take an unassailable lead over the hosts, before completing a whitewash ending the third game in just three days!

Sri Lanka in India 2017 (Proposed)

If Sri Lanka really comes for a return leg in this September as per speculations, India will easily set the aforementioned record. This series is not yet confirmed. In case it does not happen, the next Test series will take place on the green bouncy tracks of South Africa.

Conclusion

Legendary critic and writer Sir Neville Cardus once quoted, "The scoreboard is an ass!" In depth, he wanted to mean that the statistics does not always describe the full story.

Even if Kohli achieves the 9 in-a-row record soon, one should not bestow him the title of best Indian Test captain ever. For that, we need to wait for the upcoming foreign tours.

India is next scheduled to play 3 Test matches at South Africa, 5 at England, 4 at Australia, 3 at New Zealand and 3 more at West Indies before the 2019 ICC World Cup.

These tours are going to be the ultimate examinations for Virat Kohli as a Test captain. It will be clear whether he has luck with him at familiar conditions only or on challenging conditions too.