Virat Kohli announced to step down as Test captain on Saturday, 15th January 2022. He earlier left the captaincy in ODIs and T20Is too. Virat Kohli has captained the national team in 68 Test matches. Under his captaincy, team India won 40 matches and lost 17. This makes Virat Kohli the most successful Test captain India ever had.
He is the fourth-most successful Test captain in the history of Test cricket. Virat Kohli won his 40th Test in international cricket as India’s Test captain after beating South Africa in the first Test in Centurion. The captains who have won more Tests as captain in international cricket are Steve Waugh (41 Test wins), Ricky Ponting (48 Test wins), and Graeme Smith (53 Test wins).
Virat Kohli has many records as a Test captain, he has won most Tests in SENA countries across all Asian captains. Team India’s win in the first Test against South Africa is Virat’s seventh win in SENA countries. Over the course of his Test career as India’s captain, he won three Tests in England, two in South Africa, and two in Australia. His immediate step can bring a revolution in Indian cricket.
Virat Kohli has done many wonders as a Test captain but in this article, we will talk about Virat Kohli, The batter. We will try to decode the five best Test knocks of Virat Kohli as Test captain of India.
1. 141 vs Australia, Adelaide 2014
This was the first Test match of Virat Kohli as a Test captain and the Adelaide oval witnessed something special. The Indian skipper was brilliant in that series. He thrashed the Aussie bowlers all over the ground and produced one of the finest knocks in Test cricket. This knock came in the second innings of the Test match.
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first and posted 517 runs on the board, which was very challenging on that pitch. Virat Kohli scored a ton in the first innings too and that hundred helped India to put a score of 444. Australia declared the second innings at 290. That declaration gave India a target of 364 runs in four sessions. India could have drawn the Test match easily but he had other plans, he went for a win.
Kohli batted gloriously throughout the innings and executed those 141 runs. He got a little support from Murali Vijay and took India to a great position. After the wicket of Vijay fell, the other Indian batters were not able to contribute much in that chase. Virat Kohli kept fighting throughout the chase but Nathan Lyon was fantastic that day and India lost the game by 45 runs.
2. 235 vs England, Mumbai 2016
England batted first and put 400 runs on the board. 400 on that pitch was a bit of a challenge but Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted well and took India to a good position. The skipper came out to bat when the score was 146/2. He just kept the English fielders busy throughout his knock. That was Virat Kohli at its best.
The skipper lacked support when the Indian middle-order collapsed. Four wickets fell for just 45 runs and the team was in trouble. Ravindra Jadeja batted for a while then he also got dismissed. Virat Kohli then got support from Jayant Yadav. Virat Kohli and Jayant Yadav added 241 runs for the eighth wicket and created a history.
Virat Kohli ended up scoring 235 which was his third double hundred. Jayant Yadav also registered a century in that game. India’s final score was 631 which was a mammoth. The English batters looked clueless in the second innings. The Englishmen were not able to get past that score even batting twice and India sealed the game by an innings and 36 runs.
3. 153 vs South Africa, Centurion 2018
India lost the first test in that series and they were in a tough situation. The conditions were very challenging there and the pitch was one of the most difficult ones to bat on. Everyone thought that India will get bundled out for a low score and Proteas will win very easily but the Indian skipper had other plans.
The hosts batted first and scored 335 runs. 300+ on that pitch was a very good score and India had to bat very well. Murali Vijay protected one end and played a gutsy knock. Virat Kohli was as fluent as he always is. He batted with controlled aggression and kept the scorer busy. He kept on scoring runs at a very good rate.
Kohli got good support from Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin batted for a while with Virat. All the things were going well for India. But Virat’s very good friend AB de Villiers spoiled the Indians party and he displayed a masterclass in the second innings. AB de Villiers took the game away from India and India were defeated by 135 runs.
4. 149 vs England, Edgbaston 2018
It is often said that ‘history repeats itself’. This statement can be true but not all the time, there are some individuals who have done miracles for themselves. There were so many talks when India toured England to play a Test series in 2018. The last tour was a part of Virat Kohli’s life that was and will be the toughest patch of his cricket career.
In the Edgbaston Test, India were in a tough situation they needed someone to anchor the innings. India lost their first five wickets even before scoring 100 runs. That was the time when Virat Kohli took the charge and scored his first Test hundred on the English soil. That was one of the finest innings of Virat Kohli’s cricket career.
He lacked support from the other batters but he tried his level best to reach the nearest possible England’s total. He got good support from the tailenders and he ended up scoring a 149 which will be registered in the history books. In the fourth innings, India needed 194 runs to win and Virat Kohli looked good in that innings too but eventually, India lost the game by 31 runs.
5. 254 vs South Africa, Pune 2019
The Pune Test match in October 2019 showed how India dominated other teams in their home conditions. That was the second Test match of the series. India won the toss and scored a humongous 601 runs on the board. Virat Kohli played an extraordinary knock registering his highest individual score in Test cricket.
Mayank Agarwal scored a hundred, Ravindra Jadeja scored a 91, and Pujara and Rahane contributed with fifties but the center of attraction was one man. The skipper smashed 33 fours and two sixes in his knock. The South Africans looked helpless in front of Virat Kohli who was not giving even a little moment of joy to their bowlers.
South Africa batted twice but still were very short of India’s score in one inning. Faf Du Plessis scored a good-looking 64 in the first South African innings but the other batters looked terrible. In the second innings, Elgar and Bavuma had a good partnership which was the only positive for Proteas in that game. They lost the game by an innings and 137 runs as the Indian captain became a nightmare for them.
Originally published at https://cricclubs.com.
