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When Virat Kohli Foreshadowed India’s Test Dominance With A Strong Statement

Virat Kohli led India to a historic series win in Australia [Source: @BCCI/x]Virat Kohli led India to a historic series win in Australia [Source: @BCCI/x]

Virat Kohli might well go down as one of the greatest Test captains of all time, and certainly one of the biggest advocators of Test cricket from his era. The legendary cricketer took over Team India’s Test reigns from MS Dhoni in early 2015. However, Kohli demonstrated his captaincy style on his first interim assignment itself when he pursued (although unsuccessfully) a 364-run target against Australia at the Adelaide Oval back in December 2014.

Virat Kohli went on to lead Team India to 40 Test wins from just 68 matches, incurring only 17 defeats and 11 draws in the process. Interestingly, the cricketer had foreshadowed India’s Test success back in June 2015 itself, at a time when he first assumed his team’s leadership on a full-time basis.

When Virat Kohli set priorities as Test captain

Back in June 2015 ahead of India’s one-off Test match against Bangladesh, Virat Kohli unveiled the priorities he has in mind for himself as his team’s new captain. He said that he wanted to ensure Team India dominates the stage of Test cricket for at least five or six years during his tenure at the top.

Kohli backed the talent in the Indian team, and claimed that he wanted to create a strong bond between players. He said:

“I strongly want to see the Indian team dominate for at least five or six years. We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability. All that it will take is how you manage that and keep them together. I want to create strong bonds. I want to create strong friendships in this unit. 

We live 250-280 days a year together so I want to create such an atmosphere where in the next ten years watching it from outside you would get to know this team is a united team. This team is a strongly knit unit. They want to play for each other. They don't want to play for themselves. That is my vision.”

As it turned out, Virat Kohli guided Team India to remarkable series wins in Sri Lanka and West Indies, as well as orchestrated India’s unprecedented success at home. Moreover, he also led the Indian team to a historic series win in Australia in 2018-19, their first-ever success ‘Down Under’.

The legendary Indian cricketer relinquished his all-format captaincy role soon after the 2021 T20 World Cup in favor of fellow senior teammate Rohit Sharma. Overall, under Virat Kohli’s leadership, Team India secured 40 wins from 68 matches and drastically improved their track record in overseas conditions.