5 takeaways from Virat Kohli's tenure as captain so far

With the upcoming tour to Australia, a full cycle will be complete for Virat Kohli the international captain. MS Dhoni's shock retirement from Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test of 2014 meant Kohli attained full responsibilities of the Test side in the New Year's Test of 2015 and what a ride it has been ever since then.

He has led India in 39 Tests before the ongoing one at The Oval and is already second on the list for most wins as captain in Indian cricket, with his predecessor only ahead of him.

In ODI cricket, Kohli has led India in 52 matches and the side has won 39 of them, making him the best ever Indian captain so far, purely on the basis of the win percentage.

As India get set for more high-octane cricket in the coming months, here are five takeaways so far from Kohli's tenure as the leader of this side:

#5 The metamorphosis of India's fast bowlers

The crop of fast bowlers have evolved superbly under Kohli

There was a feeling that everybody got under MS Dhoni that the fast bowlers weren't quite bowling as well as they were billed by the public. Dhoni would set a particular kind of field and more often than not, the quicks would spray the ball in another direction.

Under Kohli, the same group of quicks have evolved and how. Ishant Sharma, the butt of so many jokes under Dhoni seems to have finally become the bowler that everybody wished to see for so many years.

Mohammed Shami may not be the most consistent seamer in terms of picking up wickets, but when it's his day he ensures he runs through oppositions.

Jasprit Bumrah has walked into Test cricket and taken it to like a duck to water. Umesh Yadav seems to have realised his full potential and is bowling fast and proving to be effective.

The end for Kohli's tenure may not be in sight anytime soon, but one can be sure that when that point does come, this aspect of Indian cricket will surely be one of the high points.

#4 The emergence and domination of 'Kulcha'

These two have run riot in limited-overs cricket for India

After India's forgettable defeat in the Champions Trophy final last year, a change was needed in the spin bowling arsenal to ensure they complimented the fast bowlers better.

That came about when the management decided to test out a whole new pairing in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in white-ball cricket.

What began as an experiment turned into a complete shift in the line of thinking for India's white-ball prospects as the duo wrecked havoc in pair, dismantling opposition after opposition regardless of whether the pitches assisted them or not and it meant that apart from the fast bowlers, Kohli had two spinners in his arsenal whom he could use at any point during the course of the game.

#3 The handling of Cheteshwar Pujara in Test cricket

How much does Kohli value Pujara in the Test side?

In his first full-time Test as captain of the side, Kohli preferred Rohit Sharma over Pujara at the Number 3 position. It left many shocked and others puzzled.

While Pujara may not be the most fluent batsman in the side, the value he brings cannot be entirely underestimated and during the course of his four years at the helm, Kohli has more than once failed to understand the point.

And each time Pujara has had to prove people wrong, he has done so with the bat in hand, the most recent instance coming in the fourth Test of the ongoing series against England, where he made an unbeaten 132.

Hopefully, that is the last time he needs to do that for himself.

#2 Kohli the captain vs Kohli the non-captain: Who has been better?

As captain, Kohli has turned into an absolute beast of a batsman

Captaincy has this unique ability to either improve a player and bring the absolute best out of him or it can be a complete burden and adversely impact the player.

In Kohli's case, it can be said with some form of clarity that captaincy has done the former to him. In 40 matches so far, he has made 4049 runs as skipper at an average of 64.29 while as a mere player, he has 2098 runs in 31 matches at 41.13.

He may have played fewer matches as captain in 50-over cricket, but the difference in average is already mind-boggling: 82 as captain as compared to 51 as a player.

The difference is a reflection of how the responsibility of leading India has only made him even more passionate than before to excel and contribute significantly to winning causes. This quality of his will be critical as India enter an important phase of their cricket.

#1 The DRS dilemma

Kohli's usage of the DRS has been poor to say the least

Those who keenly followed Indian cricket when Dhoni was at the helm will know his aversion towards the Decision Review System and how India failed to follow the world order when it came to its usage.

Under Kohli, there was a refreshing change as he and the management decided to opt for it despite its inflexibilities. However, that has turned out to be the only wise decision as post that, he has struggled enormously in his judgment of his reviews.

The absence of someone as reliable as Dhoni behind the stumps in Test cricket has not helped Kohli's case either and in the upcoming series, he will need to find someone who can assist him in using technology more wisely.