And based purely on outcomes, Virat Kohli is a great leader, perhaps the best the Indian cricket team has ever had.

In One Day Internationals, his record (across 95 matches) is, at a little over 70%, the fourth-best across cricketing nations and generations, behind that of Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting, and Hansie Cronje (the cut-off being a minimum of 80 matches as captain).

In Tests, his record (across 66 matches) is, at a little under 60%, the third-best across nations and generations, behind Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting (the cut-off being a minimum of 50 matches).

And in T20s, his record (across 50 matches) is, at around 65%, the second best across nations and generations behind Asghar Stanizaki (of Afghanistan, and many of their matches were against weaker opponents). The cut-off is 50 matches.

The numbers are important.

They are important because it is easy to not like Kohli.

Many people find his aggression too in-your-face, his gestures not worthy of a leader – but clearly, he delivers.

Many people (including this writer) also do not like how he has treated other players, including someone who arguably belongs among the GOATs (greatest of all time), Ravichandran Ashwin. But while there may have been instances where India has not won because it didn’t pick Ashwin, it is difficult to pick too many instances where India lost because Kohli left Ashwin on the bench.

The Indian cricket board, BCCI, whose President has usually, along with a strong captain, been the duo ruling the sport, may have chaffed at Kohli’s position as Indian cricket’s most powerful man and wanted to cut him down to size – but having a team that wins consistently, at home and abroad (and never mind the quibble about ICC tournaments) is actually good for the board in terms of money and power.

And, of course, many people may not like his new-found desire to be woke.

We have not even got down to Kohli’s individual record – and we won’t.

There may be other, very good reasons why Kohli isn’t a good captain, but we are yet to hear them.

Finally, if he is good enough to lead a test team, and his game is suited for the limited overs version of the game (which it is), then he is definitely good enough to lead the ODI team. And if he doesn’t want to lead the T20 team or even play in the format (he hasn’t said anything to this effect, but he is 33 years old), then so be it. He has earned it as a player and, more importantly, as a captain.

R Sukumar is the editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times

Pulp-it is a weekly column for HT Premium subscribers

The views expressed are personal