Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain in January of 2022 but not before he became the country’s most successful Test skipper. With 40 victories as captain from 68 Tests, Kohli has a win percentage of 58.82, with one of the reasons behind his instrumental success being his bold approach.
It all began in December of 2014, when Kohli was slotted in as India’s Test captain after MS Dhoni was ruled out due to a thumb injury in the series opener of the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India spinner Karn Sharma, who made his Test debut in that game at Adelaide, recalled how Kohli broke barriers in his first Test as captain. Leading from the front with twin centuries in the game, Kohli, who was soon to take over as India’s full-time Test captain, opted for a much bolder approach, and decided India will chase down the 363-run target on the final day.
“Making my Test debut against Australia in Australia will always remains special. Very few people get that type of start. The dressing room atmosphere was quite good. Ravi Shastri, the coach, was there. We were chasing over 300 runs in that match and Virat said ‘no draw. We are going to chase it down. That injected a lot of positivity among players in the dressing room,” Karn told Manjot Kalra on the latter’s YouTube channel.
“It was a different approach. Different captain has a different approach, But ever since he said we are chasing over 300 in the fourth innings of a Test – which was very tough in Australian conditions – it sends a wonderful indication to the players in dressing room, that your captain has different plans,” Karn added.
