Stats: Most runs as Indian captain in Test cricket

December 2014 – Adelaide Oval, Australia, 26-year-old Virat Kohli took over the captaincy reins of the Indian Test team mid-way through a series as Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to retire after the 2nd Test. Though he lost the first match while leading the team, it has transpired into a wonderful journey for the batting mainstay. Like a commander of a unit of the armed forces, he instinctively prefers to lead from the front and set benchmarks for his troops.

Over three years from that day, he has captained the team in 35 Test matches and they’ve won – 20, lost – 5, drew – 10. The team landed in South Africa high on confidence with a 9-series winning streak. It was going to be their toughest test, the conditions weren’t favourable, the attack was hostile, the stakes were high and the expectations from the No.1 team were soaring.

They lost the first Test comprehensively and Virat failed. The skipper made a comeback in Centurion and scored a magnificent 153. Though the pitch resembled one they’re used to playing on in the subcontinent, it was a characteristic knock and deserved all the praise that flooded his way. In the last Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, the pitch was a nightmare for the batsmen with lateral movement in the air and seam movement off the surface along with uneven and unpredictable bounce.

Virat showed immense application for his half century in the first innings to ensure his team didn’t fail having elected to bat first. He followed that up with another patient yet recognizable knock in the second innings that was worth 41 but more importantly he batted out a phase where the bowlers were clearly dominating the course of play.

During that he also went past MS Dhoni’s tally of runs as the Indian Test skipper – 3454. Virat now has 3456 runs in 57 innings the most by an Indian captain in Test cricket. While captaining the team he has scored 14 centuries that include 6 double tons and as many fifties.

Among the contemporaries who led India in Tests before Kohli are the names like Sachin Tendulkar, MAK Pataudi, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar. All the legendary names in Indian cricket led the team in at least 25 matches. In this list, Sachin captained the least 25 matches and scored 2054 runs.

Among others, the little master, Gavaskar produced 3449 runs having played 47 matches, Azhar also captained the team in as many games and has 2856 runs to his name.

Here is the list of Indian captains with most runs in Test cricket: