5 Indian captains of the 21st century and their contributions to Indian cricket

#5 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

The current skipper of the Indian team in all the formats of the game-Virat Kohli took over the captaincy in all the formats from the reign from MS Dhoni when he decided to step down from captaincy during early 2017.

Kohli had a fruitful start to his Test captaincy career when his team toured Sri Lanka in 2015 and won the series 2-1 in the 3 match Test series by recording a come-from-behind series win after losing the first Test.

India, till date, has won every Test series played at home under Kohli’s captaincy. India has become a formidable side at home under Virat’s captaincy. One thing that still eludes Kohli is Test series win in SENA (South Africa, England, South Africa, and Australia) countries and an ICC Trophy.

Under Kohli's captaincy, India managed to reach the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy where they were defeated by a spirited performance by Pakistan.

Virat Kohli, similar to MS Dhoni, has always stressed on the high fitness levels and fielding skills and he walks the talk with his own skills. Under his tenure, India made Yo-Yo fitness test compulsory as a selection criterion into the squad thereby setting a new fitness benchmark for the team. India’s fielding under his tenure has grown in leap and bounds and the skipper shows the way in the same.

Kohli‘s captaincy style is a stark contrast to that of Dhoni’s. Virat Kohli, the skipper is an aggressive and outspoken captain, unlike MS Dhoni’s cool personality. Despite being poles apart, they both have formed an amicable partnership that has further directed Indian cricket forward.

Kohli has been guilty of constant chopping and changing of the team and his selections are based taking into account the nature of the pitch and the conditions. However, his style of captaincy has yielded results for him till date.

Recently, he became the first Asian captain to win a Test in South Africa, England and Australia. He still is in his early years as a captain and one should expect him to help India reach new heights in cricket under his captaincy.