India skipper Virat Kohli became only the second Indian, after Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to lead the side in 50 Tests. He achieved the feat on Thursday when he led his side out against South Africa in the second Test of the three-match rubber at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
He went past Sourav Ganguly, who had captained the side in 49 Tests, and now trails only MS Dhoni, who led India 60 times in Tests between 2008-2014.
Kohli’s record as skipper has already seen him break a slew of India records but even if one looks beyond India, only Steve Waugh (36) and Ricky Ponting (34) had more wins than Kohli’s 29 after the first 50 Tests.
As written in this piece here, “His captaincy in itself might confound viewers at times but his record as captain is stunning, to say the least as the numbers suggest. One cannot help but think there are many more captaincy milestones to come in the format he enjoys playing and leading in more than any other.”
Here’s a look at some numbers that define Kohli’s captaincy:
Kohli's home record as India's Test captain
Matches | Won | Lost | Draw | |
---|---|---|---|---|
in India | 23* | 16 | 1 | 5 |
in Sri Lanka | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
in England | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
in Australia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
in West Indies | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
in South Africa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
in Bangladesh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
How Kohli compares to other Indian skippers
Captain | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
V Kohli | 2014-2019 | 50* | 29 | 10 | 10 |
MS Dhoni | 2008-2014 | 60 | 27 | 18 | 15 |
SC Ganguly | 2000-2005 | 49 | 21 | 13 | 15 |
M Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 47 | 14 | 14 | 19 |
SM Gavaskar | 1976-1985 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 30 |
Indian captaincy records
Captain | Overall matches | Overall W-L-D record | Overall W/L ratio |
---|---|---|---|
V Kohli | 50* | 29-10-10 | 2.900 |
SC Ganguly | 49 | 21-13-15 | 1.615 |
MS Dhoni | 60 | 27-18-15 | 1.500 |
R Dravid | 25 | 8-6-11 | 1.333 |
SM Gavaskar | 47 | 9-8-30 | 1.125 |
M Azharuddin | 47 | 14-14-19 | 1.000 |
N Kapil Dev | 34 | 4-7-22 (1 tie) | 0.571 |
BS Bedi | 22 | 6-11-5 | 0.545 |
MAK Pataudi | 40 | 9-19-12 | 0.473 |
SR Tendulkar | 25 | 4-9-12 | 0.444 |