Captain Kohli – a Successful Sailor, an Unrequited Leader
Virat Kohli announced his decision to step down as Test captain after the South Africa series loss.
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Virat Kohli drew the curtains on an often-tempestuous rein as the leader of Indian cricket. It marks the end of an era. But the silver that came with the success of this team, and the scars that they acquired in the heat of their battles will linger long into the future.
Kohli leaves a layered legacy enmeshed in an incongruous concoction of triumph and turbulence, that frayed the edges of the tight leash with which he sought to steer the team he acquired from MS Dhoni in 2014.
As leaders go, Virat Kohli will be remembered for his bold, brazen approach. The cricketer from Delhi used his adventurous tenure in the cockpit to fly higher than any captain has in the history of Indian cricket. On the back of a prolific run as the dominant bat in world cricket, Kohli drove the team to great heights, but he also drilled it down into the depths of despair.
A Winning Record as Captain
Overcome by an enthusiastic desire to dress the team in his own character, Kohli sought to fuel the team with unabashed aspiration. It worked too. When the steam dissipates, it will be hard to ignore the fact that he outdid Dhoni’s stupendous 27-18-15 win, loss, draw record with an outstanding 40-17-11 record in Test cricket.
His record is an obvious benchmark for Indian cricket. Even internationally, only a handful of captains enjoy a better win-loss ratio in Test Cricket among captains with more than 50 matches under their belt. Kohli’s 2.35 trails Steve Waugh (4.55), Vivian Richards (3.38), Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting (3.00), Hansie Cronje (2.45) and Michael Vaughan (2.36). In comparison, Dhoni’s achievement of 1.50 pales in significance.
Kohli’s boys won an impressive 40 of 68 Test matches, without adding the four wins that the team earned under Ajinkya Rahane, when the skipper wasn’t in action.
One Day Internationals have begun to share space with T20 internationals even before Kohli took the reins of Indian cricket. It is no surprise that he has only lead the team in 95 matches, compared to Dhoni (110 wins in 200 matches), Mohammed Azharuddin (90 in 174) and Sourav Ganguly (76 in 147). But the team won 65 matches under Kohli, a win ratio of 2.41, which could be considered second only to Clive Lloyd (84, 3.55) Ponting (230, 3.24), Cronje (138, 2.83) with a comparable span of matches as captain.
The team also won 30 of 50 matches in the shortest format of the game, under Kohli’s aggressive brand of leadership. Only Eoin Morgan (41 in 70) and Dhoni (41 in 72) have a comparable winning record in T20 Internationals. The numbers across these formats ought to be considered formidable by any reasonable standard.
Virat Kohli kisses the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after leading India to their maiden Test series win in Australia.
No Glory on The Biggest Stage
Unfortunately for Kohli though, none of those prolific winning records could accumulate enough into ICC silver that is coveted at the top tier of international cricket. And this is perhaps the single biggest reason why Kohli himself might leave feeling like an unrequited lover.
The 180-run defeat, India suffered at the hands of arch rival Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy, remains the heaviest in an ICC final. Ironically, three of the top five batters (Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Kohli) in the event were Indian, yet they mustered just 158 runs in the final, chasing 338.
The 2019 World Cup was an eerily similar story. India dominated the round robin segment, topping the ten-team table ahead of Australia, hosts England and New Zealand. Unfortunately, in the semi-finals, India faltered early and never recovered. Chasing just 240 runs for victory, the team stumbled to 5-3 in the fourth over. They laboured to 221 all out for a disgraceful exit from the tournament.
The Kiwis also denied Kohli the honour of leading India to the inaugural World Test Championship, when they upended the favourites in an eagerly contested final at the Lords.
India were beaten by New Zealand in the 2021 World Test Championship final.
Kohli’s dreams suffered a fatal blow when India stuttered in the T20 World Cup in 2021. They tumbled out at the group stages, finishing behind Pakistan and New Zealand in Group two. Even though he had already expressed his decision to remit leadership of the T20 unit, the early exit dealt a severe blow to his carefully constructed reputation as a strong leader.
Even though Kohli only wanted to hand the reins in the shortest format, the cracks were now in the public domain. In the lead up to the South Africa series, the wounds were laid bare, leaving them to dry under the Sun. Against his wishes, the BCCI snatched control from him, appointing Rohit Sharma as the limited overs captain.
Kohli carried the bruises to South Africa, eager to mend the damage by securing a first series victory for India from the Cape of Good Hope. Unfortunately, though, after starting with a patchy victory in the opening Test, Kohli and his men ran into an obstinate bunch of sailors willing to carry their leaking boat safely ashore. The hosts showed remarkable character, despite being raw and unsettled. They fought back with a tenacious effort, starkly in contrast to a fragile batting display by the visitors. The series was lost in Cape Town, and with it sank Kohli’s diminishing hopes of resurrecting his place on the throne of Indian cricket.
There have been some outstanding Test results under Kohli -
India reached the top of the ICC Test rankings and stayed there for three and a half years, from October 2016 through March 2020
The team turned into world beaters under him, especially in the longer format. They won 16 and lost 15 playing away from home. At home they were nearly unbeatable, winning 24 and losing just two matches
He helped the team secure some memorable victories at Brisbane, Lord’s, Oval and Centurion (2021), adding to the run in 2018 that secured victories in Johannesburg, Nottingham, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Leader, Unlike The Team?
Kohli’s Waterloo though may have been an effort to superimpose his character on the team. His aggression, in full view after the DRS decision in favour of Dean Elgar at Newlands, never really rubbed off on his team despite a persistent effort from the captain. That may have something to do with the multi-cultural fabric of the Indian team, made up of players with very diverse backgrounds. While failing to understand these nuances need to be laid at the door of the captain, it is also important to understand that aggression is not the only working personality type at the highest levels of sport.
A lot has been written already about the vicious impact of sledging and win-at-all-costs approach adapted by some of the Australian cricketers since the turn of the millennium. That team is still working to repair some of the damage. "I keep encouraging all of our players to be themselves,” asserted Pat Cummins, openly admitting to borrow a leaf from Eoin Morgan. “They do not have to try to impress anyone or sledge just because it might have been done like that in the past. Just be themselves.” Kohli may have missed a trick in persisting with an effort to impart some of his own ideals to a diverse team of cricketers.
The tour coincided with an important personal event for Kohli, who had to return home for the birth of his first child. And his departure (planned in advance) came after a soul crushing defeat in the first Test. Some observers noted that the team rallied together in the absence of its leader. After a shocking parade to be dismissed for 36, the motley group of visitors overcame insurmountable odds by bouncing back from the abysmal thumping at Adelaide.
Kohli's Pace Force
Kohli will also be remembered for his obstinacy. On the positive end of that stick was the development of a pace attack that is feared around the world of cricket. He placed a premium on finding the twenty wickets needed to win matches, changing the dynamic for Indian cricket. Kohli gave his unstinted support to the pacers, even going as far as playing five of them when conditions allowed for it. His approach has helped shape one of the best pace bowling units in international cricket. That is some accomplishment for an Indian captain.
The uncomfortable and short run of Anil Kumble as the Head Coach of the Indian team is another scar, that Kohli will find hard to wash away.
As an era draws to a close, Kohli will drive away with a bagful of contradictions. His enormous success as a captain is undeniable. In the same breath, Kohli will be the first to admit that the biggest stages of cricket remained strangely elusive despite training relentlessly for unparalleled success for himself and the team.
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