Virat-Kohli steps down as Test captain after unprecedented heights: 40 wins in 68 matches.

India’s most successful Test captain Virat-Kohli on Saturday stepped down as red-ball captain after an unexpected series loss against South Africa. Kohli had earlier relinquished T20I captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup, and was succeeded by Rohit Sharma after being dropped in ODIs.

The star batsman, who was appointed Test captain in 2014 when MS Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against Australia, led India in a record 68 Test matches, winning 40 and losing 17. Kohli led by storm, carved a niche for himself and cemented himself as one of the best captains this world has ever seen.

Kohli played his first Test as captain of India in 2014 against Australia and his last match as captain was the Cape Town Test in South Africa, which India lost by seven wickets. Kohli, who is responsible for India’s lethal pace bowling unit that can help pick up 20 wickets in any condition, will now be hoping for good performances with the bat in all three formats of the game.

wins as Test captain: Virat-Kohli owns the record for most Test appearances as India captain (68) and most Test wins by an Indian captain (40). Kohli is the fourth-most successful captain in Test history, only behind Graeme Smith (53 wins), Ricky Ponting (48 wins) and Steve Waugh (41 wins). The skipper finishes as India’s most successful Test captain with a win percentage of 58.82. Not to forget, India was almost unbeatable under Kohli in home conditions.

5864 runs as Test captain: Virat Kohli also owns the record of scoring most runs as India Test captain. Kohli amassed 5,864 runs in 60 Tests as the India captain. He also has the highest batting average by an Indian captain in Tests (54.80)

20- Most centuries as India Test captain: Leadership suited Virat Kohli as the Delhi star went on to smash seven double-centuries in the longest format of the game as a captain. Kohli also owns the record for scoring most Test centuries (20) as India captain.

Kohli led India to the number 1 ranking in Tests: Virat-Kohli-led India was crowned the number one Test team in the ICC Rankings for a continuous period of 42 months from October 2016 till early March 2020. Under his captaincy, India also reached the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC).

Virat-Kohli’s success in overseas conditions: Virat Kohli is the third captain and the first Asian to register a Test win at Centurion, the first two being England’s Nasser Hussain in 2000 and Australia’s Michael Clarke in 2014. The Centurion win was the seventh under Kohli in 23 Tests, which is the most by an Asian Captain in SENA countries. Kohli led India to a historic Test series victory in Australia in 2018-19 and dominated England in England last year.

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