New Zealand vs India 2019: Captain Virat Kohli only behind Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting
Virat Kohli's record as ODI captain is remarkable
On Monday, India won the third ODI against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui by seven wickets. With this victory, the Men in Blue have achieved an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the 5-match series. This is India's second ODI series victory in New Zealand after MS Dhoni's team won 3-1 in 2009.
The third ODI against the Kiwis in Mount Maunganui was Virat Kohli's 63rd match as Indian captain. This match was India's 47th ODI win under Kohli's captaincy.
With this victory, Kohli has reached the third position in the all-time list of most wins as a captain after 63 ODIs. He has managed to surpass even legends of the game like Sir Vivian Richards and Hansie Cronje. Both of them had 46 wins in 63 matches. Even Michael Clarke had 41 wins as skipper at that point in time.
There are now only two legendary captains ahead of Kohli. They are iconic West Indies captain Clive Lloyd and dominant Australian skipper Ricky Ponting. Both of these players captained their respective sides to 50 wins in 63 ODIs.
Earlier, India had won their first Test series in Australia as well as their maiden bilateral ODI series in Australia.
Recently, Kohli became the first Asian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil. Now, he has become the most successful Asian captain after 63 ODI matches.
Kohli also played his part with his bat in the ODI series win against New Zealand. In the first match, he chipped in with 45 runs from 59 balls. In the second ODI, he scored a 45-ball 43. The skipper slammed 60 off 74 balls in the third ODI.
With 148 runs in the series, Kohli is currently the third highest run-scorer in the series after Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
However, Kohli will not be able to add more runs or more captaincy wins to his tally in this series as he has been rested for the remainder of the tour. Rohit Sharma will now lead India for the last two ODIs and all three T20Is.
Most ODI wins as captain after 63 matches
Clive Lloyd - 50 wins
Ricky Ponting - 50 wins
Virat Kohli - 47 wins
Viv Richards - 46 wins
Hansie Cronje - 46 wins
Michael Clarke - 41 wins