Virat Kohli’s era as India’s limited-overs captain came to an end on Wednesday when the BCCI selection panel named Rohit Sharma as the new captain in the ODIs. Fans witnessed a change of leadership in the shortest format of the game last month after the Men in Blue beat New Zealand 3-0 at home. But what happened on 8 December marked the beginning of a new era.
Indian cricket is set to follow the concept of split captaincy – one player will lead the team in the white ball format while the other in the red ball. The new formula will be implemented with the start of the South Africa tour with Kohli leading the side in the three-match Test series while Rohit will lead the ODIs.
Before looking at the impact of this big move, let’s take a look at Kohli’s legacy in ODIs.
A timeline of Virat Kohli’s ODI captaincy:
2017: Mahendra Singh Dhoni surprised his fans by stepping down and Virat Kohli, who is already leading the team in Tests, was named the captain. Kohli started his captaincy career in the limited overs format with the home series against England. It also saw the return of Yuvraj Singh in Cuttack, where he made his highest ODI score of 150. India Won the series 2-1.
Champions Trophy 2017: It was Virat Kohli’s first ICC tournament as the captain of India’s senior men’s team. He led from the front and led his team to the final. He scored three half-centuries in the tournament. Unfortunately, the team lost in the Grand-Final to arch-rivals Pakistan by a huge margin of 180 runs.
West Indies Tour 2017: The team flew from England to the Caribbean for another bilateral series and speculated that it was another winning tour for Kohli. India won it 3-1.
Sri Lanka tour 2017: It turned out to be one of the best tours for Kohli in the white-ball format. India eliminated Sri Lanka in the 5-match ODI series.
Australia 4-1 at home, beat New Zealand 2-1 Kohli once again excelled as ODI captain, helping his team win 4-1 World Champions Australia. This was the same series when Kuldeep Yadav took a hat-trick. Next in the field was New Zealand which lost the 3-match ODI series 2-1 against Kohli’s team India.
A memorable tour of South Africa, 2018: After losing the Test, Kohli and Co made a comeback and patted the Proteas in limited overs cricket. India won the ODI series for the first time on South African soil, defeating the hosts 5–1 and thrashing the T20Is 2–1.
beat West Indies 3-1, 2018: This time we hosted the Caribbean team and they couldn’t give up the fight against Kohli’s team India. The 5-match ODI series was won by the hosts 3–1, with one match tied in Visakhapatnam.
Lost in England, 2018: This was India’s first ODI series under Kohli’s captaincy. After winning the 3-match T20I series, Kohli and his men defeated England in the first One Day International in Nottingham. But Eoin Morgan & Co. soon bounced back and won the final two games to win the series 2–1.
Historic Tour of Australia, 2018-19: Kohli’s India created history again in this tour. Firstly, they first won the Test series Down Under and then went on to win the 3-match ODI series 2–1. It was indeed a series to remember not only for the players but also for the fans.
New Zealand tour, 2019: After Australia, India toured New Zealand and won the 5-match ODI series 4–1. This win made them the favorites in the upcoming World Cup which was to be held in England.
Lost to Australia at home, 2019: India started the 5-match ODI series with 2 straight wins. But the Australian team made such a strong comeback that they did not allow the hosts to dominate anymore. The last three matches were won by the spectators, winning the series 3–2.
ICC World Cup 2019: Kohli’s India entered the tournament as one of the favourites. They lost only one game against England in the round robin, but this did not affect their semi-final selection. The final nail in the coffin was the conflict against New Zealand which resulted in India’s elimination. It was also MS Dhoni’s last international match.
India tour of West Indies 2019: It was a rain-hit series in which India won 2-0. The first of the three ODIs was washed out due to rain while in the next two India followed the D/L method on both occasions.
India hosted West Indies again in 2019 A few months later, West Indies toured India for a limited-overs bilateral series consisting of 3 T20Is and as many ODIs. The visitors managed to win just 2 games – one each in both series.
India tour of Australia, 2020: It was a short series, consisting of only three ODIs, which India won 2–1. This was the last time India hosted Australia under Kohli’s captaincy.
New Zealand tour, 2020: After impressing a 5–0 whitewash over the Kiwis in T20Is, India lost the ODI 3–0. This was India’s last overseas tour before the world was hit by the Kovid-19 pandemic. Also, Kohli’s last tour of New Zealand as India’s limited overs captain.
2-1 loss in Australia, 2020: India flew to Australia after the travel ban was lifted and the world was getting back to normal. Kohli & Co lost the ODIs 2–1 but came back to win the T20Is 2–0.
beat England 2-1 at home, 2021: India’s successful campaign against England at home ended with a 2-1 series win against England earlier this year. This was the last assignment for Kohli as India’s ODI captain.
During his tenure, India played 95 matches and won 65. The Men in Blue lost 27 matches. During this, Kohli scored 21 centuries and runs at an average of 72.
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