OTD 2014: Virat Kohli takes over as India’s Test Captain in Adelaide

Virat Kohli.
(Photo Source – Twitter/X)

One of the ‘Fab Four’ in modern-day cricket who not only became a run machine for Team India after taking the baton from none other than Sachin Tendulkar. That batting stalwart is Virat Kohli, for whom December 9 holds a special significance. The reason? OnThisDay in the year 2014, Kohli stepped into Test cricket as the Captain of Team India.

Notably, Kohli took the leadership mantle from MS Dhoni after he sustained an injury, which eventually made him unavailable for the match. The rest as they say became history as the Delhi-based wrong-footed menace went on to become one of the most successful Captains of India in Test format. Banking on his fearless attitude and aggressive brand of captaincy led the team from the front against Australia in Adelaide.

After winning the toss, the then Captain Michael Clarke elected to bat first. The decision seemed quite justified as the hosts piled up a mammoth 517 runs in their first innings after losing seven wickets. While Clarke scored a century, Steve Smith and David Warner also tormented the Indian bowling unit with their tons. Although it was assumed that India were batted out by the Aussies from the game, Kohli backed his team to stand tall against all the odds.

After losing a wicket early, the top order scored fifties and Virat Kohli led from the front by scoring a scintillating century (115 runs off 184 balls). Apart from him, the likes of Pujara, Rahane and opener Murali Vijay contributed to Team India’s commendable total of 444 runs in their first innings. As a result, the match opened up and it turned out to be a see-saw battle. What was most incredible was that instead of playing for a draw given the huge 500-plus total of Australia, the Indian Captain showed the right intent to score quicker in a bid to match the Australian score.

New Virat Kohli Captaincy era began

Even though Australia had gained a considerable lead in the first innings, Warner scored a century again while Smith provided the much-needed support from the other end with his unbeaten half-century. Eventually, the hosts declared their second innings with 290/5 on the board. As a result, India were set a stiff target of 364 runs.

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In reply, opener Murali Vijay fell agonizingly short of a memorable century by just one run. While Captain Virat Kohli yet again produced a batting masterclass and cracked an impressive century (141 runs off 175 balls). Team India were almost on the verge of a memorable victory before Kohli was dismissed when India were 304/7. But the tailenders failed to show resistance and the side lost the match by 48 runs.

Even though India lost the Test in Adelaide, it showed a more aggressive team which not only improved their fitness standards and fielding significantly but also played aggressive cricket to produce huge results in their favour in the times ahead.

Unmatched legacy of Kohli in Test cricket

As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, during his Captaincy tenure, India played 68 Test matches and won 40 Tests while losing 17 games in all. As a result, Kohli’s win percentage was more than 50 percent (58.82%), which still remains one of the highest winning ratios for an Indian Skipper in the purest format of the game.

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Among notable performances as India’s Test Captain, the team won a series after ages down under by beating Australia in their backyard by a 2-1 margin. Apart from that, in 2021, India won a series in England in quite a dominant fashion. However, due to the COVID phase, the last Test was postponed and later on, the English side managed to win the last game to level the series. In the end, in the year 2022, to focus on his batting, Virat Kohli stepped down from India’s Captaincy, but his impact as a leader continues to inspire the current Indian Test team.

Virat Kohli Test Captaincy Record for India