Virat Kohli will always be remembered as one of the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket, yet the lack of ICC trophies under his tenure still rankles Indian fans. Kohli himself made a remark on the RCB podcast recently that while he brought a “cultural change” in the Indian team, he was considered a “failed” skipper by many for not winning a single ICC tournament. The India star added that he had not judged himself from that point of view, stating that he considered himself lucky to have at least some titles under his belt as many players never even achieved that.
After Kohli’s comments, former England spinner Monty Panesar had some words for the former skipper. Taking to Twitter the former England player posted that no one remembers the second or third placed teams in a tournament. Many took the remark as a dig at Kohli’s captaincy.
“Unfortunately, that’s the pressure of being captain of India. No one remembers second or third place teams. We always remember winners of ICC tournaments,” Panesar wrote.
Under Virat Kohli’s stewardship, India reached the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, where they lost the summit clash to Pakistan. In 2019, the Men in Blue reached the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC Men’s World Cup, but suffered a heartbreaking defeat to New Zealand. The Virat Kohli-led brigade were the runners-up of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, losing to the Black Caps in the final.
Kohli is the most successful Test captain for his side, with 40 wins in 68 fixtures. His record includes a 2018-19 series win in Australia, remaining unbeaten at home and India reaching the No.1 ranking in Tests. India won 65 out of 95 ODIs and 30 out of 50 T20Is during Kohli’s captaincy.
The right-handed opener told the RCB podcast the shift he brought to the Indian cricket side is a big achievement. “What we ended up achieving as a squad and the cultural change, for me that’s always going to be a matter of pride because tournaments happen for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a longer period, and for that you need consistency, for that you need more character than just winning a tournament,” he said.