5 Best test wins during Virat Kohli's captaincy

One of the legendary cricketers in the modern era – Virat Kohli dropped a bombshell by announcing his withdrawal from Test cricket captaincy. The veteran first captained the Test side in 2014 after MS Dhoni retired from this format. The realm under Virat has been phenomenal and he has evolved as the most successful red-ball captain of India.

The Indian team achieved some great feats under him. Virat’s aggressiveness took the team to the number one spot and they remained at the top for the longest period of time. And unlike the other captains, he guided the team to dominance in overseas conditions. Virat Kohli has led the team in 68 matches which is the most Test appearance as an Indian captain and he won 40 of them. He is the fourth successful Test captain in the world and is in the topmost position for the Indian team.

Virat Kohli resigned from the post with the following captaincy accomplishments of most wins by an Indian captain (40), most runs (5864), most 100’s (20), most double hundreds (7), and highest batting average (54.80). Apart from his personal achievements, the team also created histories together such as winning Test series in Australia, etc. There are plenty of victories this player has given for the country.

In the article, let’s take a look at Team India’s best five Test wins under Virat Kohli:

1. England vs India in 2021 at Lord’s

It is always special for a side to defeat England at the home of cricket and the Virat Kohli-led India did quite well to register their supremacy here. This was the match that took place in 2021 when India toured England for five-match Test series.

After the first match of the series ended in a draw, the second match was to be held at Lord’s Cricket Ground. India was put to bat in that match and in the first innings, India posted a score of 364 with KL Rahul being the highest run-getter with 129 runs. The English team, on the back of Joe Root’s brilliant 180*, made a score of 391. India batted for their second innings and set a target of 272 runs for England to win.

The Indian bowling line-up was on fire and the bowlers dismantled the English setup for just 120 runs and won by a margin of 151 runs. Mohammed Siraj finished the match with eight wickets and the other Indian bowlers exhibited their fiery passion to win the match. This match proved the aggressive mentality of the team under Virat.

2. India vs Australia in 2017 at Bangalore

This match is an unforgettable one as it went till the last session and was one of the most thrilling Test matches in which India has ever played. After Australia thrashed India for a 333-run victory in Pune, the team was charged up for the next fixture in Bangalore. India elected to bat first in the second Test match and the team managed to score 189 runs in the first innings with KL Rahul hitting 90.

Nathan Lyon was in the best of his form and picked eight wickets in that innings. The Australian team was then all out after being 89 runs ahead (Shaun Marsh – 66 and Ravindra Jadeja– 6 wickets). In reply, India scored 274 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara (92 off 221) and Josh Hazelwood (6-67) being the key performers. Australia just needed 188 runs to place their first hand on the trophy.

No one gave India a chance to win with this low target and with this mighty batting strength of the Aussies. But, the Indian team under Virat Kohli bounced stronger and registered a victory by 75 runs. Ravi Ashwin was the star of the bowling in the fourth innings as he dismissed six of the Aussie batters. India eventually won the trophy after winning the fourth Test match of the series.

3. Australia vs India in 2018 at Adelaide

The series that proved that the Virat-led Indian side could do anything and everything that the previous Indians captains had not done is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19. The match which features on this list is the first Test of the four-match series in Adelaide. India chose to bat first and the team put up a score of 250 with a brilliant display of batting from Pujara (123 off 246).

Pujara alone was in a different rhythm with the bat and guided the team from the front. With Travis Head being the lone warrior with 72 runs, the Aussies were bowled out for just 235 runs. The Indian team batted stupendously well in the second innings too (Pujara 71, Rahane 70, and Lyon six wickets) and posted a target of 323. The Australian team, though losing wickets at regular intervals, managed to get near the target.

But with just 31 runs yet to win, the batting line-up of Australia was bundled out by extremely gritty bowling performances of the Indian bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami took three wickets apiece and won the match for India. This victory paved the way for India’s series triumph which was historically famous as it was the first-ever Test series win for India on Australian soil.

4. India vs South Africa in 2019 at Pune

The match in which the Indian team portrayed sheer domination with both batting and bowling is the second Test match between India and South Africa. India, after a victory in the first match, was looking on to win this match in order to seal the series. In well-known conditions, Virat Kohli decided to bat first after winning the toss.

The opening batter Mayank Agarwal made an elegant 108 runs at the top along with Pujara’s 58. Virat, who came to bat number four, started off the innings with utmost confidence and recorded his highest individual Test score of 254* along with Rahane scoring 59 and Jadeja hitting 91. The Proteas bowlers were clueless and couldn’t dismiss more than five batters. India declared with huge runs of 601 on the board.

In reply, South Africa just managed to hit 275 runs (Keshav Maharaj 72 and Ravi Ashwin four wickets). India imposed the follow-on after the Proteas batters faltered. With a much blistering bowling performance from India, the visitors were shattered for 189 runs with Dean Elgar scoring 48. With the ball, Umesh Yadav and Jadeja took three wickets each. The Indian team in the end won by an innings and 137 runs and hence established their supremacy.

5. India vs West Indies in 2018 at Rajkot

West Indies toured India for a two-match Test series in 2018 and the first match was to be played at Rajkot. This match witnessed history being made by the Indian cricket team under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. This match also saw the highest-ever margin victory for an Indian team in a Test match. India won the toss and elected to bat first and the first wicket of Rahul fell in the first over.

The ship was steadied by Prithvi Shaw and Pujara as they scored 134 and 86 respectively. Virat hit a century after that and Jadeja also hit his maiden hundred. The innings witnessed three centuries and two eighty-plus scores. This rose the innings total to 649 and the team declared with still a wicket remaining. West Indies couldn’t get past 181 and got all out with Ashwin dismissing four of their batters.

With plenty of runs in the trail, the West Indies were put to bat again after being made to follow on. Once again, the Indian bowlers demolished the batting of West Indies for just 196 with Kuldeep Yadav taking five wickets. The Indian team won by a humongous margin of an innings and 272 runs and it’s still the highest margin victory by the Indian team. This feat was achieved under the realm of King Kohli.