Vikrant Shekhawat : Jan 16, 2022, 06:33 PM
Virat Kohli has also left the captaincy of India's Test team and now he will not take charge of the Indian team in any format. In the year 2015, Virat became the regular Test captain of India and in 2022 he left the captaincy. In a captaincy career spanning almost six years, Virat achieved many milestones, which no other Indian captain has been able to achieve. He is the most successful captain of India in Tests. At the same time, his record in foreign countries is also excellent. Virat has won 40 Test matches as a captain and is at number four in the list of most successful captains in the world.Virat Kohli became the captain of India for the first time in the series against Australia in the year 2014. In this four-match series, Virat had captained in the first two matches, but in the third match, the regular captain of the team Mahendra Singh Dhoni returned. However, Dhoni retired from Test cricket after playing the Boxing Day Test. After this, Virat became the regular captain of India's Test team in 2015. While captaining India for the first time, Virat had scored a century in both the innings, while even after becoming the regular captain, Kohli scored a century in the first innings.Virat had captained India for the first time in the entire series against Sri Lanka. This was Virat's first Test series after becoming the regular Test captain of Team India. India had to face a crushing defeat in the first match of this series. However, after this, the Indian team made a great comeback and won the three-match series 2-1. India's fast bowlers performed brilliantly in this series. It was due to the excellent performance of the fast bowlers that India was able to make a comeback in the series and won the remaining two matches.India's first home Test series under Virat's captaincy was against South Africa. In this series, Team India defeated the African team by 3-0. South Africa were the number one team in Tests at this time, but India regained the number one position in Tests after defeating Africa in Nagpur. One match of this four-match series was drawn, while the remaining three matches were won by India. Ravichandran Ashwin took the most wickets in the entire series and was adjudged the Player of the Series. At the same time, Rahane had scored a century in both the innings of this series.In 2016, India toured the West Indies under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and won the four-Test series 2–0. India won the first and third matches of the series by a huge margin, while the second and fourth matches were drawn. Virat had also done wonders with the bat in this series and scored 251 runs at an average of 62. At the same time, Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker in this series. Ashwin also contributed well with the bat and scored 235 runs at an average of over 58 throughout the series.In 2016 and 2017 the Indian played in his home ground for a long time. During this, India played Test series against New Zealand, England, Australia and Bangladesh. Team India defeated New Zealand 3-0, England 4-0, Australia 2-1 and Bangladesh 1-0. During this, Virat also scored the best double century against England. Apart from England, Kohli also scored a double century against Bangladesh. This was the period when Virat established his reign in Tests after ODIs and made many such records, after which everyone was convinced that he would soon break Sachin's record of 100 centuries.The first match of the four-match Test series against Australia was won by the Kangaroo team and India returned after winning the second match. The third match of the series ended in a draw and the decider was played at the Dharamsala ground and Virat was not in this match. However, in his absence, Rahane captained very well and led India to victory. During this, India remained the number one team in the world in Tests. At this time, it was difficult to maintain the dominance of Team India in the Test, but Virat was also shown this work by the fighters.In 2017, the Indian team once again went on a tour of Sri Lanka. By now Virat had established himself as a captain. This time India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 at home and registered a resounding victory. In this series, India won all the three matches by a huge margin. Team India won two matches by an innings margin. Shikhar Dhawan scored the highest 358 runs and was adjudged the Player of the Series. On the other hand, Ashwin and Jadeja did wonders with the ball. However, in this series, not many runs were scored from Virat's bat, as India had batted in only four innings in three matches.In 2017-18, the Indian team went on a tour of South Africa for the first time under the captaincy of Virat. In this tour, India lost the three-Test series by a margin of 1-2, but Virat achieved a big achievement by winning the last match of the series. He was only the third captain to have won a Test match in African soil. At the same time, this was only India's third Test win in Africa. Along with this, Virat also maintained the record of India not losing in Johannesburg. The victory in Johannesburg marked the beginning of a string of Test wins for India overseas.Under the captaincy of Virat, India reached to play a five-match Test series against England in 2018. Here Team India had to face defeat by 1-4, but Virat had proved himself as a batsman. He scored 593 runs in five matches, which included two centuries. Bad luck of his splendid performanceIndia had shown the spirit of fighting in every match, but could not win the match due to lack of support from the rest of the players. Sam Karan became the reason for England's victory in this series. He had performed brilliantly with the ball and the bat.In 2019, Virat Kohli achieved a position which no other Asian captain could achieve. Under the captaincy of Kohli, India went to Australia and won the Test series. This was the first time in the history of world cricket that an Asian team won a Test series in Australia. Australia's legends David Warner and Steve Smith were not there in this series, but beating the Kangaroos at home was a big deal for any team. India won two matches of this four-match series, while one match was in the name of Australia and one match was drawn.In September 2019, Virat once again defeated the West Indies team at his home and with this series victory, Virat became India's most successful Test captain. India won both the matches of this series by a huge margin. Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane did exceptionally well with the bat. However, Virat could not do much with the bat in this series. Dhoni had won 27 Tests for India and under Virat's captaincy, India won the 28th Test in this series. Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma bowled wonderfully for India.In the year 2020, under the captaincy of Virat, India tasted a crushing defeat for the first time. India suffered a 0-2 loss in the Test series against New Zealand. Both the matches of the two-match Test series were won by the Kiwi team by a huge margin. In this series, none of the batsmen of both the teams were able to score more runs, but the condition of the Indian players was much worse. Mayank Agarwal, the highest run-scorer for India in this series, averaged 25.50. Virat had scored runs in this series at an average of just 9.50.After the defeat against New Zealand, Kohli's team India was derailed from the track of victory and India had to face an embarrassing defeat against Australia in Adelaide. Team India was bundled out for just 36 runs in the second innings of the Day Night Test match. At the same time, Virat was about to become a father and after the first match he returned to India. After this, India made a spectacular comeback under the captaincy of Rahane. In the next match, Team India won by eight wickets and came to level the series. The third match ended in a draw and India defeated Australia for the second time in a Test series at their home after winning the historic Test at the Gabba.This time all the great players were present in Australia's team and half of India's team was injured. Despite this, young players like Pant and Gill broke Australia's pride in the Gabba and defeated the Kangaroo team at this ground after 32 years.India had registered a historic victory against Australia, but Virat's bad luck had not yet been accepted. India had to face defeat in the final of the Test Championship against New Zealand. This was the first edition of the World Test Championship and team India reached the finals due to consecutive match wins. After India's scintillating performance in Australia, everyone expected a win, but it did not happen and the Kiwis, captained by Kane Williamson, became the first winners of the World Test Championship. Here Virat once again missed out on winning the ICC trophy.In 2021, India once again toured England and this time Team India was ready to change the old history. In the first match of the series, India were very close to victory, but the match was drawn due to rain. India won the second match by a huge margin and lost the third match by a huge margin. India won the fourth match again, but due to Corona, the fifth match of the series could not be held. The series is still incomplete and India have a 2-1 lead. In the month of July this year, India has to play the remaining fifth Test. If India draws or wins this match, then after 2007, Team India will win the Test series in England for the first time.Team India once again reached Africa under the captaincy of Virat in 2021-22. India was sure that after Australia and England, now Africa will also be conquered. It also started in a similar fashion. India won the first Test by 113 runs, but Virat got injured after that. In the second match, Virat was captained by Rahul and India lost the match by nine wickets. Team India could not make a comeback even in the third match. Virat in the first innings and Pant in the second scored runs for India but no third batsman could survive. Because of this, India also lost this series by 1-2.With this defeat, Virat said goodbye to the captaincy. He has won 40 Test matches out of 68.