Virat Kohli, without doubt, is one of the best batsmen to grace a cricket field. However, he is more than just an extremely talented batsman because he has been the captain of his country in all formats of the game since 2017. According to the Times of India, the BCCI are going to take the ODI and T20 captaincy away from Kohli after the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. So, considering this news, we have decided to take a look at some of the highs and lows of his time as India captain.
Kohli’s Highs as Captain
We like leaving the bad stuff for last, so we are going to first look at some of the highs of his captaincy career.
2-1 Series Win in Australia
If you were to ask Kohli what he rates as his most memorable achievement in Test cricket, we are certain that he would opt for the 2-1 series win in Australia in 2020/2021. The victory would have been made all the more special by the fact that India were absolutely trounced in the first Test after being bowled out for a mere 36 in their second innings. They went on to win the second and fourth Tests, while the third and fifth Tests ended in a draw. Also, this would have been a special win for Kohli since he was missing severalof his key players. This was India’s first win on Australian soil for more than seven decades.
India Against Australia at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
India were taking on Australia at the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the Indian fans in the crowd were booing Steve Smith because of the part that he played in the sandpaper scandal. Many oppositions captains would have enjoyed watching Smith get heckled, but the booing clearly agitated Kohli to the point where he asked the Indian fans to applaud him for his cricketing skills and forget about the sandpaper issue. He even went as far as to apologise to Smith for the behaviour of the Indian fans. Kohli gets a lot of stick for being aggressive on the field, but here he showed us all that he has a softer side as well. When asked about it later, he declared that it is not right for someone to be vilified for a past mistake.
Highest T20 Score Against the West Indies
When Kohli first walked to the crease in this game, he looked scratchy, and it seemed that he would get out at any moment. However, after trading some verbal barbs with Kesrick Williams, he fired himself up and produced a dramatic turnaround. Before his clash with Williams, Kohli was on 37 runs from 28 balls with India needing 208 to win. From the next 22 balls that he faced, he scored 57 runs to finish with 94* from 50 balls and helping India win with more than six balls to spare. If there is one thing that Williams learned that day is that you should not poke a beast. When it comes to odds to win the T20 World Cup, India are already the favourites, so opposing teams will do well to not rile Kohli up and give them more of an advantage.
254* Against South Africa
In October 2019, India were taking on South Africa in Pune in the second Test of a three-match series. India had won the first Test by 203 runs so were looking to take an unassailable lead, which they managed thanks to their captain Virat Kohli. India won the toss and Kohli elected to bat first and he showed that this was the right decision by smashing an amazing 254* from 336 balls to help India to a score of 601/5 declared. In response, South Africa could only manage 275 in their first innings and 189 in their second, meaning that India won by a huge innings and 137 runs. This was Kohli’s seventh double hundred in Tests, which saw him surpass the great Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as the Indian player with the most double centuries.
Kohli’s Lows as Captain
Now that we have seen some of highs, we are going to take a look at some of his lows.
Failure to Win an IPL Trophy
As well as being the captain of his national team, Kohli has been the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a decade. However, in this time as captain he has not led them to a single title. They have made it to the final on three occasions, but they have lost every single one. In the last four seasons, Kohli has led them to 8th, 6th, 8th and 4th, which really is not good enough. On the other hand, previous captains of India such as MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir have multiple Indian Premier League trophies and so does Rohit Sharma, the man who looks like he will take over as ODI and T20 captain after the T20 World Cup.
The Loss to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup
India were playing New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and had restricted the Kiwis to a total of 239. For a team with such batting talent as India, this should have been a simple chase, but they lost their first three wickets for next to nothing. With the score at 5/3, Kohli sent in Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh pant, when many thought that Dhoni was the man for the crisis. When Karthik got out to leave India reeling on 24/4, Kohli sent Hardik Pandya out to bat instead. India lost the match by 18 runs, and Kohli was heavily criticised after for holding Dhoni back so late.
Playing Two Spinners at Lord’s
India were touring England in 2018, and in the T20 and ODI matches before the Test matches, Kuldeep Yadav was picking up wickets for fun. So, when the Test matches were due to start, it was expected that Kohli would make use of Kuldeep. However, the question being asked by many was in what Test?
In the first match, Ravi Ashwin was chosen as the only spinner, but Kohli said there could be a slight change in the second Test after they lost by 31 runs. The pitch at Lord’s is not known for spin, but Kohli still opted for Ashwin and Kuldeep, and then carried on making use of Ashwin and Kuldeep even though it was evident that the ball was swinging. They both bowled a total of 26 overs in England’s innings and conceded 112 runs and picked up no wickets. England went on to win the game by an innings and 159 runs. They went on to win the series 4-1, which will not go down as one of Kohli’s finest moments.
