India vs England: Will Virat Kohli break Sourav Ganguly’s record in Edgbaston?
Virat Kohli, who has won 21 Test matches as Indian cricket team skipper, has a chance to surpass second-placed Sourav Ganguly in the list of Indian captains with the most number of Test victories.
Virat Kohli has been the focal point of the media’s attention as the Indian cricket team gears up for the first Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham starting August 1 with a lot of those discussions revolving around his batting and the lack of form he has shown in English conditions in the past.
While all eyes will be on Virat Kohli the batsman, the 29-year old will also be eyeing a special milestone as the India skipper. A victory against England in Birmingham will be Kohli’s 22nd in Test matches as captain and that will make him the second best Indian Test skipper in history as far as wins are concerned.
Former skipper MS Dhoni tops the list with 27 Test victories from 60 matches.
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Virat Kohli has an impressive 60% win percentage in Tests – the best for any Indian cricketer who has led the side in more than 5 matches – and after his first 23 Tests, his record was only second to Steve Waugh.
Kohli, who has led India on 36 occasions, has time on his side and considering India’s jam-packed schedule, it seems likely that he will surpass MS Dhoni’s Test captaincy record in the near future.
Kohli took over the Indian cricket team captaincy during the tour of Australia in 2014 and his total of 692 runs in four Tests was the most by any Indian batsman in a Test series in Australia.
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He followed it up with series wins over Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Australia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.However, except for Sri Lanka and West Indies, all of the victories came on home soil and in the much-anticipated Test series in South Africa, Virat Kohli’s side were defeated 2-1 after they lost the first two matches.
In comparison, Sourav Ganguly registered 11 out of his 21 wins on foreign soil.
With scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0,7, 6 and 20 in five Tests, Kohli averaged a horrendous 13.50 in his 10 innings during the 2014 England Tour. However, the expectation will be completely different from the Indian cricket team skipper this time.
