The Indian team was playing its first test match on the tour of Australia in 2014. The Adelaide test match was delayed by a few days due to the unfortunate passing away of Phil Hughes. The first test saw India being led by Virat Kohli in place of regular skipper MS Dhoni. The team under Kohli played extremely well and nearly pulled of an incredible win on the final day. Kohli on his part scored twin hundreds in the game and was phenomenal with the bat. He was also seen engaging in a verbal with rival Steve Smith who was in rich vein of form that series. Its been over 6 and half years that Virat Kohli has been the test captain, even though India lost the World Test Championship final, one has to ask if India would have been the same test side had Kohli not been the captain?
Taking over a team in shambles
MS Dhoni without a shadow of doubt was a great skipper in the white ball format. He had won world titles in the T20 and 50 over format (World Cup and Champions trophy). His test record though started to dwindle post 2011 tour of West Indies. Two successive series whitewashes in England and Australia had the tongues wagging. Apart from a series win against New Zealand at home in 2012, the Indian team lost their first home series for a while in 2012 against the visiting English. The way Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann got the Indian batsmen flopping like a fish out of water had shocked everyone. Dhoni bounced back with a 4-0 series win against Australia and 2-0 series win against West Indies in late 2013. His away form blues as captain though continued as he lost the away series to New Zealand, South Africa, was drubbed by England. Even though he did not play the first test by the time India took guard at Brisbane, MSD was back in the saddle and he lost yet another test for India. With the end of 2014 in sight MS Dhoni announced his retirement from test cricket on 30th December,2014 much to the shock of many. Virat Kohli was the next in line and he had got a team which was in shambles and in abject confusion as far as their test future was concerned.
A slow start to test captaincy
Virat Kohli had led India in the white ball format and was seen as a polar opposite to MS Dhoni. Where Dhoni was seen as a captain who liked to follow a set pattern, Kohli was impulsive and liked to try different things. His first test at SCG was a draw and Kohli had to wait 5 months before India played the next test, a one of test against Bangladesh which ended in a draw due to rains. It was too early to judge the new captain in the saddle as Kohli had captained in three games and drawn two and lost one so far.
First big assignment
The Sri Lanka tour of 2015 was the first big assignment for Virat Kohli as India had not won a test series in Sri Lanka for over two years. The first test at Galle saw India capitulate to the guile of Rangana Herath while chasing a small total, but Virat Kohli rallied his troops and bounced back to give India its first series win by sealing the series 2-1. The first big test was passed with flying colors by the new Indian test captain,
The home warriors
India next played a test series against the visiting South Africans, and the series which was dominated by spin saw India the 4 match series by 3-0 margin. Had the game in Bangalore not rained out, the series would have been 4-0 in favor of India. The Indian test team suddenly looked vibrant and aggressive. The critics though were quick to ask, winning at home is fine but can Kohli make it a formidable unit away from home?
Incredible 2016-2017 for Indian test cricket
Post the 2015 home series versus South Africa, the Indian team played their next test series away to West Indies in 2016. The year 2016 was going to be special for India as they had a huge home series lined up. India won the 4 match series in the Caribbean by 2-0 with Kohli leading his team from the front with the bat in hand. India played 13 games at home against, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia in a grand home season. Kohli’s India won 9 under his captaincy from the 12 games he led India (Rahane led India in the final test against Australia at Dharamsala as Kohli was injured during the previous test at Ranchi). Kohli then whitewashed Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka hy winning all the three tests of the series. In the return series later that year India won the three match test series 1-0.
Mixed 2018 the first cracks in Indian test cricket under Kohli
The year 2018 started with India touring South Africa for a three match test series. India lost the first two tests and won the final one at Johannesburg, the next test in literal terms came against England away from home. Barring the win in the third test India were handed a 4-1 series loss. This was a huge defeat for Kohli who doesn’t like to lose. India then played a short home series against West Indies and won the series. The failures early in the season was offset by India winning its first ever test series in Australia by beating the hosts by 2-1 in the 4 match series.
2019 and beyond a gradual slide
2019 for India began with loads of white ball games, the tour of west indies which began the World Test Championship cycle saw India beat the hosts 2-0. They then played South Africa won the series 3-0 before they had a horrendous away tour of New Zealand losing both the tests. The game which Kohli would want to forget is the 36 all out at Adelaide, technically it was Rahane’s team which won the series before Kohli resumed captaincy duties against England at home to win the series 3-1.
The change in mindset that Kohli Bought
There was a general perception amongst fans that MS Dhoni did not like out and out fast bowlers. The former captain preferred swing bowlers more than pacers who could hit the deck hard and clock over 140’s. Kohli though has made fast bowling a sight to look at. Under him India possesses one of the best fast bowling units. Early in his career he said “It’s the bowlers who are going to win you Test matches, as simple as that. If you don’t take 20 wickets, you can have an average of 55, it doesn’t matter. These small contributions and team winning are more important than having an average of 50 and above and bowlers not being able to take wickets” the likes of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj now form a potent bowling combination. The Indian fast bowling unit is now regarded as one of the most potent and fearsome in the business. While India still relies on spin in home matches, one cannot look past the efforts of Yadav, Shami and Ishant in the last 6 years with the ball in home confines.
Love him or hate him, the fact is that after 61 test matches 36 test wins, Virat Kohli deserves respect as a captain. He has changed the mindset of the Indian players and fans. They now are fearless away from home and value test cricket just as much as they value ODI and T20 cricket. The Indian test team should not be judged by the loss of the WTC final but they should be with what they achieved over the last 6 and half years that the shoulders of Virat Kohli has been carrying in the longest format of the game. Kohli took a team in shambles and set out to change the legacy that MS Dhoni left behind as the skipper in test cricket. With India now entering the second phase of the WTC one would hope Virat Kohli can keep the good form going and finally get the much deserved respect and reward by the time 2023 rolls through.
