Former Australia captain Aaron Finch highlighted what made Virat Kohli’s tenure as India’s Test captain truly special, praising the Indian star’s ability to put the team’s success ahead of personal milestones. Finch said Kohli set aside his ego and often sacrificed personal runs to help ensure India’s success, especially by backing challenging, spin-friendly conditions at home.
Kohli retired from Test cricket as India’s most successful captain in the red-ball format. India recorded 40 victories, suffered 17 defeats, and drew 11 games in 68 Test matches under Kohli’s captaincy. His record at home was especially remarkable, with India winning 24 of 31 Tests, underscoring their dominance on home soil.
On foreign tours, Kohli led India to 16 wins in 36 matches, surpassing Sourav Ganguly’s previous record of 11 away Test victories and highlighting India’s growing strength in challenging overseas conditions. This included historic series wins in Australia during 2018-19 and 2020-21, along with memorable Test wins in England and South Africa.
Beyond the impressive statistics, Kohli’s most profound impact as captain was his focus on building a world-class pace bowling unit.
“What really stands out to me about Virat’s leadership is that you can look at his numbers now and say they’re not as good as they were five years ago. But he was playing on some wickets in India that were spinning hugely from day one. It was about putting your own ego aside to say, ‘What’s the best thing for my team right now to win a Test match against this opposition?'” Finch said while speaking on JioStar ahead of the RCB vs KKR IPL match.
With a tally of 9,230 runs at an average of 49.29, Kohli ranks fourth on India’s all-time Test run-scorers list behind only Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122).
Kohli’s numbers in the latter half of his career did not match the prolific heights of his earlier years. However, Finch argued that this decline was less about form and more about Kohli’s willingness to sacrifice favourable batting conditions in pursuit of Test victories. Notably, Kohli consistently backed surfaces that benefited his bowlers-even if it came at the expense of his own run-scoring potential.
“They could have rolled out some flat wickets and said, ‘I’m going to cash in on my own runs and make sure that my record stacks up with some of the all-time greats,’ but he put his own ego aside and said, ‘I want what’s best for my team to win this match,'” Finch added.
“Brilliant point, and it sounds better when it comes from you rather than me,” former India coach Ravi Shastri responded.
Few batsmen in world cricket have displayed as much confidence at the No. 4 position as Kohli. For over three decades, Indian cricket fans found reassurance in a world-class No. 4 batter-first in Sachin Tendulkar, and then in Virat Kohli. Kohli, with his poise and authority, brought a sense of inevitability to the role. At his peak, he looked invincible, scoring Test centuries across all conditions, including difficult tours of Australia, England, and South Africa.
However, the final stretch of his Test career was marked by leaner returns and a more subdued role. Despite stepping down as captain in early 2022, Kohli remained a vocal and visible leader on the field. In what turned out to be his final Test match in Sydney earlier this year, with Rohit Sharma absent and Jasprit Bumrah injured, Kohli was once again seen leading the charge-marshalling field placements, rallying bowlers, and keeping the team’s energy alive.
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