Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, Team India achieved some great heights, whether it is in Test cricket or the limited-overs formats. They were the numero uno Test side for almost five years and were among the top teams in white-ball cricket.
Despite such a level of domination, Kohli failed to lift an ICC trophy as a captain and it is something that still rankles Indian fans.
Recently, Virat Kohli himself said that while he brought a “cultural change” to the Indian team, he was considered a “failed” captain by many for not winning a single ICC tournament.
“Look, you play to win tournaments. I captained in Champions Trophy 2017 (reached the final), 2019 WOrld CUp (reached the semifinal), I captained in World Test Championship (reached the final), and T20 World Cup in 2021 (failed to qualify for the knockouts). After three (four) ICC tournaments, I was considered as a failed captain,” said Kohli while speaking on the RCB podcast season 2.
“I never judged myself from that point of view; what we ended up achieving as a team and as a cultural change that always going to be a matter of pride for me. A tournament happens for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a long period of time and for that you need consistency for that you need more characters than just winning a tournament,” he added.
Taking note of Kohli’s comments, former England spinner Monty Panesar on Sunday (February 26) tweeted that no one remembers the second or third placed teams in a tournament. Many felt that the post was a dig at Virat’s captaincy.
“Unfortunately, that’s the pressure of being captain of India. No one remembers second or third place teams. We always remember winners of ICC tournaments,” Panesar wrote.
During Kohli’s captaincy tenure, the Men in Blue lost the final of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 to arch-rivals Pakistan while they suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. India also copped a defeat in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand with him at the helm.
However, Kohli proved to be the most successful Test captain for India, winning 40 out of 68 matches. He also led his country to 65 wins in 95 ODIs and 30 victories in 50 T20Is.
