Presenting the incredible batting numbers of Virat Kohli as captain
Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test captain on Saturday. The announcement came in the aftermath of India's Test series loss (1-2) to South Africa. Kohli finished as India's most successful captain in red-ball cricket. He had earlier ended his stint as captain in T20I cricket. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma had replaced him in One-Day Internationals. Here, we decode Kohli's incredible batting stats as captain.
Why does it matter?
Kohli took over the reins of India's Test side from MS Dhoni, who retired from the format in December 2014. Over seven years later, Kohli is India's most successful Test captain. Under him, India won 40 of 68 Tests and lost 17. As many as 11 matches ended in a draw. Kohli's batting also bloomed with the extra responsibility of captaincy.
Most Test runs by an Indian captain
As captain, Kohli amassed 5,864 runs from 50 Tests at an incredible average of 54.80. He owns the most Test runs by an Indian captain. Dhoni follows him on the tally (3,454 runs). Overall, he is only behind Graeme Smith (8,659), Allan Border (6,623), and Ricky Ponting (6,542) on this list. Notably, Kohli owns the highest individual Test score by an Indian captain (254*).
Kohli owns 20 Test centuries as captain
Kohli slammed 20 centuries while leading Team India in Test cricket. He finished with second-most tons as captain after Smith (25). They are the only players with 20 or more Test centuries as captain. Moreover, Kohli also has the most double-centuries while leading in the format. Interestingly, all his seven Test double-tons came as captain. Former West Indies captain Brian Lara scored five.
Only Indian captain with over 2,000 runs in SENA countries
Kohli is the only Indian captain to have scored over 2,000 runs in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia). He owns 2,162 runs from 24 Tests at 47.00 in these nations while leading. The tally includes seven centuries.
Third-most international runs as captain
Kohli captained India in a total of 213 matches across formats. He tallied 12,883 runs at an astonishing average of 59.92. Kohli has the third-most international runs as captain after Ponting (15,440) and Smith (14,878). He is one of the two Indians with over 10,000 international runs as captain, the other being Dhoni. Kohli slammed 41 international tons as captain, the joint-most with Ponting.
Kohli averaged 72.65 as captain in ODIs
Kohli averaged over 70 in ODIs while leading. His average of 72.65 as captain remains the best in the world (among all captains). Kohli scored 5,449 ODI runs as captain, the second-most by an Indian captain after Dhoni (6,641). Kohli (21) is next to only Ponting (22) in terms of ODI tons as captain. The former amassed 1,570 runs while leading India in T20Is.
Kohli averages 115.90 as captain in successful run-chases (ODIs)
Kohli averages 115.90 as captain in successful run-chases (ODIs). He scored 2,434 runs in 36 such ODIs, the third-most after Ponting (2,453) and Smith (2,444). Kohli owns 11 hundreds in successful run-chases while leading. Ponting (6) and Smith (5) have a combined total of 11.
A look at other notable numbers
Kohli scored his first double-century in Test cricket in 2016 against West Indies (North Sound). His 200 remains the highest score by an Indian captain in an overseas Test. The 33-year-old struck three double-tons each in 2016 and 2017 (calendar years). He is only behind former Australian captain Michael Clarke (among captains), who slammed four double-hundreds in 2012.
