When Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s T20I captain ahead of the T20 World Cup in October-November, questions were raised about the future of his ODI captaincy. The star batsman, who has been one of the most influential figures in Indian cricket for years, said in his statement that He will continue to lead India In ODIs and Tests.
President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly rubbishes all the rumours Kohli’s decision to step down as T20I captain, told India Today that the decision was personal and the board’s top officials had no role in it.
“Understanding the workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload playing all 3 formats over the last 8-9 years and captaining regularly for the last 5-6 years, I feel I have the right to lead. One needs to position himself to be fully prepared for the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli had said ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Deduction till December 2021, Virat Kohli was replaced as India’s ODI captain As Rohit Sharma is all set to take over as the full time captain of the team in white ball cricket. The BCCI announced at the end of its release with a line in which it named an 18-man squad for India’s Test series in South Africa from 26 December.
Virat Kohli will continue to lead India in Tests but his tenure as India’s white-ball captain has come to an end. Rohit Sharma, who led India to a 3-0 win over New Zealand in the recently concluded T20I series, was also appointed as the vice-captain in Tests as Ajinkya Rahane lost his job amid a steady decline in form.
A lot was expected from Virat Kohli in his last stint as T20I captain as India were one of the favorites for the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The BCCI also included former captain MS Dhoni as the team’s mentor, but Kohli’s team was dropped in the group stages of an ICC event for the first time in 2012 as Kohli’s T20I captaincy stint ended in disappointment.
There is no doubt in Kohli’s record as an ODI captain, but India’s inability to win a major ICC title in the last 4 years is seen as a cause for concern.
Actually, Kohli has the best average (72.65) for ODI captains (Lead in minimum 75 matches) with 5449 runs and 21 centuries in the history of the game. AB de Villiers has the next best average – 63.94 in 103 matches.
only 3 captains – Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting and Hansie Cronje have better win percentage than Kohli.
Rohit Sharma took over as India’s full-time white-ball captain before a busy 18-month period in which India will play 2 major white-ball tournaments – the 2021 T20 World Cup in Australia and the 50-over World Cup at home.
Virat Kohli’s numbers as captain in ODIs
|
match as captain |
played | Won | Lost |
| complete | 95 | 65 | 27 |
| At home | 35 | 24 | 10 |
| Far flung | 42 | 29 | 1 1 |
,
| series as captain | played | Won | lost one |
| overall | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| At home | 9 | 8 | 1 |
,
Virat Kohli’s record in major multinational tournaments
Asia Cup 2013-14: Did not reach the final
Champions Trophy 2017 – Lost in the final.
World Cup 2019 – Lost in semifinals
Kohli becoming the captain of the white ball
When Virat Kohli took over from MS Dhoni as India’s full-time white-ball captain in 2017, a lot was expected of him as he proved his mettle as a Test captain. It was no surprise then as Kohli was expected to succeed Dhoni after leading India even before 2017.
Virat Kohli served as the stand-by captain in ODIs in the West Indies in early 2013 in the tri-nation series involving Sri Lanka and West Indies. Before Dhoni returned, Kohli led India to victory in the round-robin format and led India to the title against Sri Lanka in the final.
However, Kohli’s first major tournament as captain – the 2013–14 Asia Cup – ended in disappointment as India were eliminated in the group stage.
Kohli took over as India’s full-time ODI captain in January 2017 against the England team in Pune and tasted immediate success, leading the team to a 2–1 victory.
India march under Kohli despite heartbreak CT 2017
However, in the 2017 Champions Trophy, Kohli’s men stumbled to Pakistan in the final. After the defeat, Anil Kumble decided to step down as head coach, describing his relationship with the then captain as “untenable”.
Kohli had his way as Ravi Shastri, who had previously worked with Kohli as the team manager, came on board as the head coach. All was well as Kohli was getting the right results in the bilateral ODI series leading up to the World Cup.
In fact, Virat Kohli led India to a historic ODI series win in South Africa in February 2018. Kohli did what no other Indian captain had done in the past by marshalling the team to a historic ODI series win at Rainbow Nation.
2019 world cup debacle
In the 10 ODI series between the Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup, India won 8 series, losing only to England and Australia away from home. The numbers led the way in favor of Kohli and India as one of the pre-tournament favorites at the World Cup in England.
India lived up to top billing in the 2019 World Cup, topping the league stages, winning 7 of their 9 matches. However, he was knocked out in the semi-finals as problems familiar to the Asian giants returned.
Following the exit, questions were raised about the team management’s inability to resolve the No. 4 issue in ODI cricket, which proved costly in the showpiece event. India, under Kohli, tried several big names including Yuvraj Singh and Ambati Rayudu at the crucial spot, but were struggling to find a player who could seal the spot.
Rohit’s height in the making
Nonetheless, Kohli continued as ODI captain despite being ruled out of the World Cup, but the star batsman was under increasing pressure as he suffered a drop in form with the bat after the day-night Test in 2019. Kohli’s century has gone beyond 2 years at the international level. Cricket in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bangalore and less-than-par results meant that his future as limited-overs Indian captain was in question.
The T20 World Cup in 2021 was seen as a make-or-break for Kohli’s captaincy stint even as Rohit Sharma was developing into one of the finest white-ball captains , which won 5 IPL titles and white-ball tournaments like Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup. with India in 2018
The transition was imminent as India had a normal campaign in the T20 World Cup, with some former cricketers calling it one of their worst shows in an ICC event.
With the 2023 World Cup due a few months after the T20 World Cup in 2021, Rohit Sharma will have an extended run under the white-ball captaincy. The Mumbai Indians skipper formed a winning combination with head coach Rahul Dravid in the T20I series against New Zealand.
The headlines will now be Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will have to step back.
Taking the burden of white-ball captaincy off his shoulders, Kohli will be keen to return to the pinnacle with the bat. Will we get to see the return of the man who was scoring centuries in international cricket just for fun?