Virat Kohli Birthday: 5 reasons why Kohli can be India's greatest ever captain

Virat Kohli has been a phenomenal player across all formats ever since he made his foray into the Indian team. The consistency with which he scores runs, big runs, is something which puts him ahead of his counterparts.

He enjoys pressure situations and that explains why he is possibly the best chaser in the world currently. His record across all formats speaks for itself.

4658 runs at an average of 49.55 in 60 test matches with 17 centuries and 14 fifties. 9030 runs in 202 ODIs at an average of 55.45 with 32 centuries and 45 fifties. And in 54 T20Is, an outstanding average of 53.97 with an amazing strike rate of 135.97.

Kohli the batsman has only grown in stature after he became the captain of India across all formats. On his 29th Birthday, we look at why ‘King’ Kohli could possibly go on to become India’s greatest captain ever.

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#1 Kohli has had a good start as skipper of the side

As was mentioned earlier, Kohli has embraced captaincy very well in all formats of the game. His batting has gone up a notch, and he truly is leading by example with his consistent batting performances.

To put it simply, among captains who have led their teams in 60 or more international matches in all formats, Kohli’s winning percentage is the best so far. He has won 52 out of the 72 games he has captained across all formats with a fantastic win percentage of 72.22.

Things are going to get tougher for Kohli as India have tours of South Africa, England and Australia lined up in the near future. However, going by his record so far, India can certainly hope of winning an overseas series or two.

#2 Kohli's exemplary fitness standards set the right example

It’s imperative for all modern day players to be at their fittest. The fitness standards set by these players is one of the key factors for a successful team.

In a trend, which started whilst MS Dhoni was the skipper, the Indian management has put a lot of emphasis on fitness standards of each individual. That trait has been carried forward admirably by Kohli.

Despite all his international commitments and the IPL, since 2015, the only time Kohli sat out of for a few games was during the Australia test series and the first few matches of the IPL this year.

It’s his dedication to maintain exemplary fitness standards and focus on regular training that has allowed him to play consistently without a break, and perform at the level he has.

It’s a classic case of leading by example. Though the full credit for this wouldn’t go to Kohli, the captain’s dedication towards staying fit will certainly rub off on the others.

#3 Ability to stand by his bold decisions

Every captain preceding Kohli, like MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid or Sourav Ganguly have had some rather unfortunate controversies which, in some way, diluted their contributions as a captain.

Virat Kohli is known for his aggressive, at times arrogant style/brand of captaincy. The very fact that he loses control of his emotions has impacted his performance as a captain, mainly in the IPL.

But his stint as a captain hasn’t been short of controversies either. It is here where Kohli is a little ahead of the other captains. As he has faced the ire of the media, fans and former players and still hasn’t let that affect his performance as a batsman or a captain.

An instance of this boldness was when Kohli and the team management decided to leave or drop senior players like Ravi Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja from the limited overs set up recently.

Despite that, Kohli hasn't let his and team's performance get affected. Even after Kumble saga, he didn't let the level of his performance come down.

#4 Courage to back youngsters

Everyone - the experts, fans and critics felt that Pandya wasn’t ready for test cricket. But Kohli went against public sentiment and decided to play Pandya in the tests against Sri Lanka as he felt the conditions demanded that the team needed to have a fast bowling all-rounder.

And Pandya didn’t disappoint, as was evident by his 85 ball century against Sri Lanka.

Pandya is by no means set for test match cricket. His flaws in batting technique could well be exposed when plays in South Africa, England and Australia. But the very fact that Kohli went against the norm to back a youngster is a good trait of a leader.

Same for the case with Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

It is very clear that this captain isn’t too bothered about going against the norm and is ready to take up criticism to back the players he selects. He has a vision and to his credit, the results have been phenomenal.

#5 His record as a captain overseas so far has been phenomenal

Virat Kohli’s mind-blogging record as a batsman was highlighted earlier. Across all formats, he has a phenomenal record.

But a trend which we get to see is many prolific batsmen either start performing worse after they become captain or they take their batting up by a level or two after getting the additional responsibility.

Players in recent times like Alastair Cook, Faf Du Plessis, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root are examples of prolific batsmen who haven't let the additional pressure affect their batting.

But a true test of a captain is how well he copes up in overseas conditions, especially in test cricket, which is where many of the players mentioned earlier pale in comparison to Kohli. Kohli has scored 2347 runs in 30 matches at an average of 45.43 with 10 centuries, including a double hundred as captain.

He even boasts of the record of having the best winning percentage as a captain in overseas games for any Indian.

Because he hasn’t played in South Africa, Australia or England as a full-time captain, where traditionally Indian skippers have struggled, one can’t predict his winning streak will continue even there.

But solely based on where his record currently stands at, as a player and a captain, he has shown enough potential to indeed become India’s greatest captain ever.