Test series win in Australia is an even greater achievement than the 2011 World Cup win: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli created history on Monday as he became the first-ever Indian captain to win a Test series Down Under. The 71-year long wait, according to Kohli, is an achievement even greater than the 28-year long wait which ended on April 2, 2011. What is special about Kohli’s captaincy feat is that this was his first tour to the country as a full-time captain and overall his third Test tour to Australia.

Interestingly, Kohli took up the captaincy during India’s 2014/15 tour of Australia, where Dhoni decided to retire from the longest format of the game mid-way series. Dhoni led India in six Test matches in Australia, losing all. In the past, Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev had led India in Australia, but could only manage to win games and never a series.

Kohli was under pressure going into the series 

Kohli was under pressure ahead of the tour as India had lost two overseas series under him in 2018 – in South Africa and England. This victory is thus even bigger for the skipper. In the post-match presser, Kohli was asked to rate the series win in Australia and he rated it more than the 2011 World Cup. “It has to be right on the top of the pile [of my achievements]. When we won the World Cup in 2011, I was the youngest member of the side. I saw people around me getting emotional, but I didn’t feel what they felt,” he said.

“Having been to this country for the third time now and to understand what we’ve achieved here has never been done before, we can be proud of it. This win will give us a different identity as an Indian team and can inspire kids to do the same for the country going forward,” Kohli added.

Indeed, this is one of the biggest wins in the history of Indian cricket. India next play Australia in the ODI series which begins on January 12.

Watch: Best XI of 2018 across formats

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.