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Beginning of a new era of Indian Test cricket, but Virat Kohli will always be special as a Test captain

Sudev Haldar
2 years ago

New Delhi, Online Desk. Rohit Sharma is now the new captain of the Indian Test team after Virat Kohli and under his captaincy, India will play against Sri Lanka for the first time on Friday and a new chapter will begin. There is no doubt that Rohit Sharma is a very capable captain and cricketer and under his captaincy the Indian team will definitely touch more heights, but Virat Kohli also did a lot for India as a Test captain which will be remembered forever.

Test captaincy for the first time

The next time Kohli made his debut for India in red-ball cricket after the tour of England, he was the captain of the team as Dhoni abruptly decided to step down during the 2014–15 tour of Australia. In the fourth and final match of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Kohli took charge of the Indian team on a temporary basis. He also made the occasion memorable by scoring centuries in both the innings. Kohli had scored 692 runs in four matches in that tour, which included four centuries.

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Virat took revenge on the British

Virat was completely flop in England in 2014 tour. Four years later, on India’s next tour of England, he took this burden off his shoulders. When in 2018 he scored 593 runs in five Test matches with two centuries and three half-centuries.

Most successful captain

Kohli had resigned from the captaincy in early 2022 after leading the team in the longest format for seven years. He is India’s most successful captain in red ball cricket with an unprecedented record of 40 wins in 68 Test matches. Under his captaincy, India won a Test series on Australian soil for the first time, while also winning in Sri Lanka and West Indies. Under Kohli’s leadership, India were on the verge of winning a series in England last year. Due to lack of final test due to Corona, that series has not been decided. India is leading in that series.

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Really Virat in Test

Made his Test debut against West Indies soon after the 2011 World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar was rested for that tour. In that series, Virat was able to score 76 runs in three matches without any century and half-century. After this he was not selected for the tour of England in July.

In 2011, he scored his first half-century while playing at number six. This time he did it against West Indies at home. He scored 52 runs in the first innings and 63 runs in the second innings of the third match of the series at the Wankhede Stadium.

He scored his first Test century against Australia in Adelaide in 2012. A few months later, he scored his first Test century on home soil against New Zealand. After the retirement of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, India played an innings of 103 runs in the second Test of the first series at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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The tour of England in 2014 will be an unforgettable moment for his career. He could only score 134 runs in 10 matches. Swing and pace bothered him a lot. Virat has said many times that the failure of that tour had put him in depression.

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