Former India head coach Ravi Shastri lavished huge praise on Former Test skipper Virat Kohli, saying the five years he led the team in the red-ball format were India's best ever years. Notably, the veteran player took over Test captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2014 in the Test series Down Under. In his very first Test as the leader of the team, the right-hand batter scored twin centuries in Adelaide and almost enabled a Test win in the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Under Kohli, India never lost a home Test series, winning against even top teams like Australia, South Africa & England. Under his leadership, India also went onto win their maiden Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19 series. The icon also thrived on leadership, averaging 54.80 with bat in the 68 Tests he captained. India also came agonizingly close to achieving their maiden Test series victory in South Africa in the 2021 Test series, which also happened to be Kohli's last as Test leader. However, despite winning the first Test on that tour, India happened to lose the next two Tests.
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"I mean, he was the one man I identified who would lead the team, and I wanted him to lead the team," Shastri said on Sky Cricket.
"You know, once I took over the job and once Dhoni had finished, he did a magnificent job. I think his first skills as a batsman, his ability to dominate, you know, be in the face, play hard, but fair play, and wanting to win and take the game forward."
"I would say Kohli, the batsman in his pomp, was unbelievable, because in those five years when India were number one in red ball format, some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England, across formats, were unreal."
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Virat Kohli - India's best Test captain with over 55% win percentage
For the unversed, Virat Kohli led India in 68 Tests, winning 40 matches - the most by an Indian skipper. Globally, only Steve Waugh (41), Ricky Ponting (48), and Graeme Smith (53) have won more Test wins than Kohli as leaders. The veteran skipper took over the captaincy reins in 2014 and led the team till 2022. The star's captaincy highlight was India's overseas win against Australia in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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As a batter, Kohli amassed 5,864 runs at an average of 54.80, with his Test best score of 254 coming against South Africa in Pune in 2019. Notably, he also holds the record of scoring six double-centuries as captain, which is the most for any captain.
