On 16th September 2021, Virat Kohli, the captain of India’s all-format cricket team, announced that the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup will be his last as a captain of India in the shortest format. Incidentally, the tournament will also be Kohli’s first as a captain, after playing three World Twenty20 (as known earlier) tournaments under MS Dhoni. Four days after that, Kohli announced that the restarted 2021 IPL season will be his last as the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Since his T20 international debut as a captain of the Indian team in January 2017, no captain has led their T20 team more often than Kohli, leading India in 45 games. Kohli’s 27 wins (29 including two Super Over wins) are also the most for any captain in this period.
Kohli’s captaincy, especially in the T20 format is, is often judged based on his captaincy for his Indian Premier League franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Leading the RCB since 2013, Kohli and his team have failed to lift the IPL Trophy.
India have played 17 international bilateral series under Kohli, winning 11, losing two, and drawing the other four series. Kohli has series wins in West Indies, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Australia, a feat not achieved by any captain in the world. The 2021 ICC T20 World Cup will be the first time and also the last time that Kohli will be captaining India in a multi-team tournament.
For captains who have led their country in at least 40 T20 internationals, the Win/Loss ratio of India under Kohli is 1.928, which is the second-highest in the world, behind only Afghanistan’s Asghar Afghan (4.66). To put this into perspective, Dhoni’s Win/Loss ratio was 1.464 in 72 matches.
The success Kohli has enjoyed for India in T20s has not been replicated in IPL for his team Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kohli has captained RCB in 132 matches so far, winning 62 of them. RCB have lost more than they have won, losing 66 matches, with an overall win percentage of 46.97. Across eight seasons under Kohli from 2013, RCB have managed to reach the playoffs three times. Only once were they able to win a playoff game across five attempts, reaching the final in 2016. RCB finished last on the points table on two occasions, while they finished seventh in the 2014 edition.
With this year being Kohli’s last year as a captain in T20 cricket, he will have an added motivation to finish his IPL and Indian T20 captaincy career with a title to his name, something that has remained elusive so far. RCB, who are currently third on the points table, have looked impressive this season with a more balanced team. India won their last T20I series, played against England, who are one of the favourites going into the T20 World Cup. Having found exciting talent in the middle-order, India would begin their campaign high on confidence, seeking a second title after missing out in 2014.
Kohli’s Indian team is a force to reckon with, and it is a result of his relentless pursuit to make the Indian team the best in the world. The RCB squad in 2021 is a combination of exciting talents and proven world-class veterans but a captain’s legacy is often defined by the number of titles they win. Will 2021 define Kohli’s legacy as a T20 captain? October 14th and November 14th are the two dates that hold the answer.