Indian all-format skipper Rohit Sharma failed to lead the Indian team to the ICC title in the 2022 T20 World Cup–and in the recently-concluded World Test Championship final against Australia in Kennington, Oval. India suffered a humiliating 209-run loss against the Pat Cummins-led side in the ultimate final.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy came under the scanner following India’s defeat against the Baggy Green, as his team selection, bowling changes and field placement in the much-awaited final raised a few eyebrows as he could not inspire the Indian team for the ICC title after 10 years long years.
Many fans and experts started comparing Rohit Sharma with former Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who lead India to many famous test victories in overseas conditions. He has captained India for nearly 5 years and has a good win percentage in all three formats. Here are five reasons why Virat Kohli has led the Men in Blue better than Rohit Sharma.
1. Virat Kohli Brings Out The Best In Indian Youngsters
Virat Kohli’s captaincy has the hunger to win games even in the most unfavourable conditions, as he took the regime from the legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni. The 34-year-old was one of the most influential captains in Indian cricket history as he is famous for wearing his heart on his sleeve every time he takes the field.
Many Young players like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Yuzvendra Chahal were groomed into the Indian side during his tenure as captain, as he backed the youngster to do well in all formats of the game, leading by an example and instilling new kind of self-belief in the Indian team.
2. Developing World Class Indian Pace Attack
Virat Kohli developed a bigger pool of fast bowling units during his captaincy stint with the Indian team, as he instilled confidence Indian pace attack to do well in overseas conditions, as the Men in Blue got a new set of talent during his period.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj proved to be lethal for the Indian team, especially in red-ball cricket going for 20 wickets in test cricket attacking high-quality opponents in their home conditions. As Indian pace attack was crucial for India’s famous test victories in England and Australia.
3. Bringing In Focus On Fitness To Make It Into Indian Team
Virat Kohli brought an extreme level of fitness to the Indian Cricket team during 2017-21, where he made the yo-yo test mandatory to make it into the side. As the team brought some training methods to improve the fitness of the Indian players, which can improve the fielding standards of the Indian team in cricket.
With the fitness standard being improved during his period, the Indian fielding standard had improved over the period, which in turn helped the quick running between the wickets of the Indian batters, as many Indian players like Prithvi Shaw, Varun Chakravarthy, and Rahul Tewatia even missed out on making into the team following failing the yo-yo test.
4. Aggressive Mindset To Win Games
Indian team under Virat Kohli has always looked to win the game in test cricket rather than going in a defensive mindset to draw the game, irrespective of the game situation, which reaped huge rewards for the Indian team in overseas conditions winning back-to-back Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Virat Kohli was very vocal about his plans going into any series as he made it clear that this Indian team will never play for draws. Instead, they will lose a few to win. Kohli brought an aggressive mindset to the team as he wants his players to attack, and attack and thus, be the best in the world.
5. Leading The Team From The Front
The former Indian skipper led the team from the front during his tenure as the Indian team captain, as he was exceptional with the bat for the Indian team during his captaincy, as he have a better average in batting than Rohit Sharma as an Indian skipper, as he batted Indian team out of trouble in many matches, especially on chases.
Virat Kohli holds the record for scoring the most number of double centuries as a test captain and for being the highest run-getter as an Indian Test captain and also won seven Tests in SENA conditions. Captain Kohli has led India to 40 victories in 68 Tests. Kohli also holds the record for most Test matches as an Indian captain.