3 teams India played against in ODIs under Virat Kohli and always won
Virat Kohli's ODI captaincy stint ended this week as the BCCI handed over the ODI team's reins to Rohit Sharma. The Indian team played 95 ODIs under Virat's leadership, recording 65 wins while suffering 27 defeats.
India participated in two 50-over ICC events under Virat Kohli's captaincy. They finished runners-up in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and topped the group standings in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
However, it seems Virat Kohli's failure to win an ICC trophy as captain led to him losing his captaincy to Rohit Sharma. The aforementioned statistics highlight India's dominance in ODI cricket under Kohli.
India recorded 12 wins each against Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies under Virat Kohli's leadership. The Men in Blue defeated South Africa in seven out of eight matches under Kohli and against the following three nations, India maintained a 100% win record in ODIs where Kohli led the side.
#1 Bangladesh - 3 matches, 3 wins
Bangladesh have been one of the most improved ODI teams in the last few years. They qualified for the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals and the 2017 Champions Trophy semifinals. The Bangladeshi team also registered a historic bilateral ODI series win against India during the previous decade.
However, whenever India played against Bangladesh in ODIs under Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue always emerged victorious. India beat Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2014, Champions Trophy 2017 semifinals and World Cup 2019 under Kohli's captaincy.
#2 Afghanistan - 2 matches, 2 wins
Like Bangladesh, Afghanistan have improved a lot in the 50-over format of the game. They came close to defeating India and Pakistan during the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.
Afghanistan played two ODIs against Virat Kohli's Indian team, suffering defeats in both matches. The first time Virat led India in an ODI match against Afghanistan was during the 2014 Asia Cup. The Indian team won that fixture by eight wickets.
Five years later, Virat Kohli captained India in the 2019 World Cup game against Afghanistan. The Afghan side came close to registering a major upset but eventually fell short by 11 runs.
#3 Zimbabwe - 5 matches, 5 wins
Virat Kohli captained India for the first time in a bilateral ODI series during the 2013 Zimbabwe tour. He led the team from the front and smashed one hundred and one fifty during the five-match series.
India won that series comfortably by 5-0 even though some big names were missing from the squad. The Men in Blue won four of their five games by chasing a target, while the win in the second ODI came while batting first.
Zimbabwe and India have not met in an international cricket match of late. The Zimbabwean side failed to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. They are not a part of the ICC World Test Championship either.
It will be interesting to see if fans get to witness another India vs Zimbabwe series in the coming years.