Virat Kohli captained India from 2017 to 2021 in white-ball cricket.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh and ex-Australia all-rounder Tom Moody spoke on Virat Kohli’s captaincy tenure in white-ball cricket. Virat Kohli had become India’s Test captain in 2014 and took over from MS Dhoni in white-ball cricket in 2017.
India excelled in Tests under Virat Kohli, winning the maiden Test series in Australia, remaining the number 1 team in Tests for five consecutive years, and qualifying for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021.
However, when it comes to white-ball cricket, India did well but couldn’t win a major ICC trophy. Under Virat Kohli, India lost in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and in the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup. They also lost the final of the WTC 2021 to New Zealand.
On the Rise of Champions program on JioHotstar, several former cricketers discussed India’s defense of their T20 crown in the T20 World Cup 2026 that India and Sri Lanka will co-host. India has been placed in Group A, with Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA.
Speaking on expectations from India, former Australian skipper Aaron Finch, the 2021 T20 WC winner, said, "When you are an Indian team with so much experience and skill, people look at the team sheet and assume they have to win. It is a remarkable team, but that reputation carries its own weight as well."
Despite Virat's tremendous success as a Test captain, Harbhajan expressed unhappiness with the white-ball captain's performance. India was unable to win any significant trophies under his leadership as white-ball captain.
"The kind of team Virat had, they could have won three or four trophies. Nahi jeete kuch toh karan honge, but I still feel unke paas achhi team thi (If they did not win, there must be a reason, but I still think he had a solid team),” Harbhajan said.
Sanjay Manjrekar also voiced concerns regarding team selection during the Kohli-Shastri era, saying, "Team selection under Ravi and Virat was always my biggest concern."
However, South African batting icon and Virat's close friend AB de Villiers offered a contrarian point of view, saying that "he feels irritated when players are judged on the basis of having won a World Cup."
"Frankly, it irritates me that people always judge a captain solely on whether they have won a World Cup. Saying 'that guy is useless because he has not won a World Cup' is unfair," he added.
Meanwhile, Australia’s two-time World Cup winner Tom Moody called Virat Kohli’s captaincy era a disappointment.
“The Virat Kohli era was an era of high expectation, but ultimately, disappointment,” he said.
India played 50 T20Is under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, winning 30, losing 16, tying two, and losing two with a 60% win percentage. In 95 ODIs, Virat led India with 65 wins, 27 losses, one tie, and two draws.