IND v ENG 2021: Virat Kohli captains India in 200 international matches, third after Dhoni and Azharuddin

Virat Kohli is leading Team India for the 200th time in the 3rd ODI against England.

MS Dhoni guided Virat Kohli when he became the former's successor | Getty

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has joined his predecessors MS Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin as the only captains to lead Team India in 200 or more international matches.

Kohli led the Indian side for the first time in 2013 in an ODI against Sri Lanka. He was appointed the full-time skipper when MS Dhoni stepped down from captaincy in January 2017.

The top-order batsman has led the country in 95 ODIs, 60 Tests, and 45 T20Is. He has won 127 matches, lost 55, drawn 10, and tied 3 games while 4 of them failed to produce a result.

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With Kohli leading the team out in the 3rd ODI against England, he is now in an elite list of cricketers to lead their side in 200 or more international games. At the top of the list sits MS Dhoni with 332 matches as captain, followed by Ricky Ponting (324) and Stephen Fleming (303).

Graeme Smith (286), Allan Border (271), Arjuna Ranatunga (249), and Mohammad Azharuddin (221) are the only other players to lead their countries for over 200 games across formats.

Among Indians, Sourav Ganguly (195), Kapil Dev (108), and Rahul Dravid (104) are the only other cricketers apart from Dhoni, Azharuddin, and Kohli to lead the country in over 100 international matches.

 
 

By Sameer Deodhar - 28 Mar, 2021

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