The spectacular clean sweep of the home Test series by India against New Zealand is a feather in India’s cricketing cap. That it has catapulted India to the status of the top Test-playing nation is particularly gratifying for those who still regard Tests as the ‘real cricket.’ It is heartening that the honour has been achieved under the captaincy of Virat Kohli who was, until the other day, considered by critics to be too impetuous to deliver results. Indeed, Virat has grown into a fine team leader and an equally gifted batsman who seems destined for many more milestones. He is still young and raring to go. It is only a matter of time before 28-year-old Virat who is known for his aggressive captaincy becomes captain in all forms of the game — the one-day 50-overs each format and the twenty-20 one besides the Test. What a wonderful journey it has been for India from being led by ‘Captain cool M.S. Dhoni’ to the captain with the killer instinct Virat Kohli! Both have been exemplary leaders in a country where cricket is a national obsession.
Virat Kohli holds numerous Indian batting records including the fastest ODI century, the fastest batsman to 5,000 ODI runs and the fastest to 10 ODI centuries. He is only the second batsman in the world to have scored 1,000 or more ODI runs for four consecutive calendar years. In 2016, Virat became the first Indian batsman to score two test double centuries as a captain. Having first assumed Test captaincy in December 2014, Virat has not looked back since then. It is still early days but of 17 Tests played by him as captain in India, Virat has won 10, lost 2 and drawn 5. At 58.82 per cent Virat has the highest percentage of wins among Indian captains. There indeed are milestones galore waiting to be reached by this wonderful cricketer and captain.
