Former captain and one of the greatest cricketers to have represented India, Virat Kohli continues to make a mark in international cricket. Kohli started his career in 2008 at the age of 19 and gradually established himself in the limited overs formats. It took him less than a year to secure a regular place in the Test team until the 2011 World Cup. However, his initial year was challenging as he suffered being dropped from the Test team and had to spend time on the bench. He finally made his comeback just before India’s forgettable tour of Australia in 2011/12.
— Akash Kharade (@cricaakash) 25 June 2023
After a 4–0 loss against England, India suffered another humiliating defeat against Australia, resulting in a series whitewash. During that period, the Indian batsmen struggled, lost their rhythm and made the team one of the weakest teams in Test cricket.
Like other batsmen, Kohli also faced difficulties in Australia and made low scores in the first two Tests with scores of 11, 0, 23 and 9. With the unfavorable results, the selectors considered changing the playing XI and brought in Rohit Sharma in place of Kohli.
Rohit was earlier supposed to make his Test debut in 2010, but his entry was delayed due to injury. Although he seemed certain to play in the Perth Test, Kohli was backed by MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag. Sehwag, who then served as Dhoni’s deputy, shared an interesting anecdote during the India-England Test series in 2016. He captained India in the Adelaide Test, where Kohli scored a century.
Sehwag revealed, “In 2012, the selectors wanted Rohit Sharma to replace Kohli in Perth. As vice-captain, me and Dhoni decided to back Kohli. The rest is history.”
Kohli did well on a challenging pitch in Perth, scoring 44 and 75, followed by a hundred in Adelaide. The decision to back Kohli proved fruitful and since then he has never looked back. Interestingly, Kohli took over the captaincy in Dhoni’s absence during the first Test of the 2014/15 Australia tour.
Dhoni announced his retirement after the Third Test, and Kohli took over the full-time captaincy and led India in the Fourth Test. By the time Kohli relinquished the captaincy, he had become India’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins in 68 matches.