Colombo: Even though it is early days yet in Virat Kohli’s captaincy, newly-appointed head coach Ravi Shastri has already started proclaiming that he is one of the ‘greatest’ captains India have ever produced. Shastri has gone on record stating that Kohli can be kept on the same pedestal with India’s all-time successful captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni – statistics-wise.
In the recent past, Shastri had openly proclaimed Dhoni as the ‘greatest’ Indian captain. However, after India’s first Test win against Sri Lanka at Galle, the former Indian player said here, “The way captain Virat has been delivering, I won’t be surprised if he soon surpasses MS Dhoni too. Virat has the calibre to do so.”
Explaining why he considers Dhoni to be the all-time best among Indian captains, Shastri is quick to refer to the wicket-keeper batsman’s stats. “Under his leadership India won two World Cups – the T20 and the 50 overs. India also achieved the No. 1 Test ranking under Dhoni. Plus he has guided India to the final of a T20 World Cup as well as to the semifinals of the 50 overs tournament,” pointed out Shastri. ‘There should not be any doubt as to who is the greatest ever India captain. Dhoni has also been the leader of the side who won a tri series for the first time down under,” he added.
The Indian coach pointed out that Kohli’s present record indicates that he has the potential to emerge as India’s best captain. Shastri probably will be the best judge because he has seen both Dhoni and Kohli from close quarters.
Even though the legendary cricketer writer Neville Cardus had always called the scoreboard a ‘donkey’ on many occasions, Shastri’s extravagant praise of the two must have its own hidden reasons. It was during Dhoni’s tenure that Shastri became team director for the first time while it was Kohli who was responsible for his comeback to the Indian team as head coach.
But then what do the stats say? Currently Kohli has the best record as Test captain which is considered the most challenging form of the game. Kohli has won 17 of the 27 Tests he has led India (the two Tests against Australia excluded when he was makeshift captain), a win record of 62.96%. No Indian captain who has led India for more than 20 Tests has such a record.
However, Kohli’s away Test successes have been limited to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the majority of his wins have been on home soil. India lost both the away Tests against Australia with Kohli at the helm, though makeshift, a couple of years back.
In comparison Dhoni has led India in 60 Tests with 27 wins under his belt – a 46.16 per cent win record. In the long run, that is a creditable figure among people who have lead India in 30 or more Tests. However, he has never won a Test series outside the Indian sub-continent
Kohli’s real test will come when India embark on their away tours to South Africa and England in the next couple of seasons.
One should not in this context forget the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid both of whom led the country to away Test wins on a number of occasions. Or for that matter Ajit Wadekar who gave the country their first away series wins against West Indies and England in 1971.
Agencies
