Besides the heroics of Ravichandran Ashwin with bat and ball and a superlative innings on the first day of the match by Rohit Sharma, the second India-England Test in Chennai will also go down in the Indian Test history as the one where Test captain Virat Kohli equaled former captain MS Dhoni’s enviable record of 21 wins at home.
By the time the Test series gets over, Kohli in all likelihood (unless for any reason he misses the last two matches of the series to be played in Ahmadabad) will also join Dhoni in an exceptional club of leading 60 Test matches for the country. It’s a hell lot of matches to lead a country since only five captains have led more and none is an Indian.
Among the modern Indian captains in the new century, none has captained a Test team for as many years (7) as Kohli has. Dhoni’s tenure was for six years, followed by Sourav Ganguly for five years (2000-05) and Rahul Dravid for a couple of years (2005-07). Anil Kumble managed to lead only in the interim period of transition from the Dravid-era to the Dhoni-era.
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The numbers are fairly indicative of the fact that captaining a Test team, regardless of the accomplishments, for more than four years is a huge challenge.
While Ganguly was sacked after modest returns in the later years, Dravid despite winning in West Indies in 2006 (just the second time after a gap of 35 years) and in England in 2007 (only series win in last 35 years) quit on his own as the pressure of leading was too much and it was affecting his batting.
Even the highly successful Dhoni wasn’t spared after poor results in overseas Test matches regardless of the fact that he had won a unique trio of ICC trophies (the T20 World Cup, ODI world Cup and the Champions Trophy). So, where does this put Kohli as far as his future of leading India in Test matches is concerned?
It may sound a little odd to raise this debate when Kohli has just won a fantastic match in Chennai and is all set to win the series which will give India a chance to compete in the final of the World Test Championship final against England in Lord’s in June.
Perhaps, there couldn’t be a better occasion than that to gracefully move on from the responsibility of Test captaincy at least since all captains have shelf life. It can’t go on and on especially when there are able options in Ajinkya Rahane and maybe now even Ashwin.
In all honesty, the only record which is a remarkable feat in Kohli’s Test captaincy is the 2018 Test series win in Australia. That was a first in 70 years. And, Rahane did even better with a hugely depleted squad and much stronger Australian side.
Kohli despite all the bold posturing has failed to win a series in England, South Africa and New Zealand. Winning another home series against England was never going to tell us anything new about Kohli’s captaincy, but a defeat is certainly going to put a serious question mark over his leadership skills.
And, that’s why Kohli was terribly hurt after the defeat in the first Test of this four-match series. He is not used to losing at home and certainly not a series. India not only lost the first Test but their unbeaten run in Chennai for 22 years was also halted. If ever, Kohli was more under pressure to assert his captaincy, now was the time. And, credit to him that he responded brilliantly by a masterly half-century in the second innings and an emphatic win.
However, there is also big picture as far as India’s captaincy is concerned. With no ICC trophy in white-ball cricket so far, Kohli’s captaincy was already being scrutinised since there is a credible option in Rohit Sharma.
Also Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore hasn’t done incredibly well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) under his leadership since 2013, while Rohit has made the Mumbai Indians the champions not once but five times. The comparisons are being made and they will continue to be made as long as Kohli the captain doesn’t win something which other Indian captains haven’t.
In the last phase of Dhoni’s captaincy, much of the criticism was around pathetic surrenders in overseas matches (especially in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia- the SENA countries). Alas, much hasn’t changed in the Kohli-era either.
Admittedly, his team has fought better and managed to win more (13) matches than Dhoni’s (6), away from home. Kohli may win yet another series at home and equal former West Indian captain Clive Llyod’s 36 wins (overall) which statistically will put him among the most successful four captains of all-time. But, is that the real story of his journey as India’s Test captain?
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