Virat Kohli, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, is widely considered as one of the most successful leaders in the team's history. During his tenure, the team achieved numerous victories and clinched several bilateral series across various formats in different parts of the world. Kohli's impressive batting form also contributed to the team's success during his captaincy. Despite his accomplishments, Kohli acknowledges that he made a few errors as a captain. However, he maintains that every decision he made was always for the benefit of the team.
Goal was to take the team forward
Speaking on Disney+ Hotstar's show 'Let There Be Sport,' Kohli said, "I have no shame in accepting that I have made many mistakes when I was captain, but one thing I know for sure is that I never did anything for my own selfish motives. My only goal was to take the team forward, failures will keep happening, but intent was never in the wrong place."
Startling batting numbers as captain
Kohli captained the Indian cricket team in T20Is from 2017 to 2021, winning 30 out of the 50 matches he led the team in. He scored 1,570 runs in 46 innings at an average of 47.57 and a strike rate of 140.55 as T20I captain. He also hit 13 fifties, with his highest score being 94 not out.
Kohli relinquished his T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup in 2021 and a month later, he was removed as the ODI skipper. As India's ODI captain from 2013 to 2021, he led the team in 95 matches, winning 65 of them, losing 27, with one tie and two matches abandoned.
Kohli was prolific with the bat during his tenure as ODI captain, scoring 5,449 runs at an astonishing average of 72.65 and a strike rate of 98.28. He hit 21 tons and 27 fifties as captain, with his highest score being an unbeaten 160.
In ODIs, Kohli has played 179 matches and scored 7,449 runs at an average of 49.66 and a strike rate of 90.48. He has hit 25 centuries and 38 fifties as a player. However, Kohli stepped down as the Test captain as well after leading India in 68 Test matches from 2014 to 2022. Under his leadership, India won 40 of those matches, lost 17, while 11 ended in a draw. The second best Indian captain is MS Dhoni, who led the side in 60 Tests and won 27 of them.
