Stats: Virat Kohli-led Test team equals record for unbeaten streak

Virat Kohli and his men have been very impressive in Tests

 

By winning the Chennai Test by an innings and 75 runs, Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has broken Kapil Dev’s record for having remained unbeaten in the most number of consecutive Test matches.

 

The 28-year-old, who took over the full-time reigns in Sydney in 2015, has not lost a Test in the last 18 matches and if he extends this streak into the solitary Test against Bangladesh in February next year, then he will break the All-time record.

In these 18 Tests, Kohli has won 14 matches and drawn the other four and the series win on Tuesday was his fifth straight Test series win as a skipper.

Few will dispute that the Indian Cricket Team under MS Dhoni went through one of its most successful phases. The Ranchi-born cricketer took over the reigns of the team after Anil Kumble announced his retirement from the game and tasted success not just at home, but also in overseas conditions.

Under Dhoni, with a team at peaking at the right time across departments, India not just won at home., but also registered wins in New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and deservingly climbed to the top of the rankings.

However, the tide shifts for every captain and Dhoni was no different either. Following India’s triumph in 2011 World Cup, he endured a torrid time in overseas trips, first with an ageing time and then with a young and emerging one. 

India were blanked 4-0 both in England and Australia in 2011 and 2012 respectively and lost series in New Zealand in 2014, England once again in 2014 and Australia the same year.

At the end of 2014, Dhoni had had enough and not just relinquished his captaincy from the longer format, but also decided to call it quits from Test cricket. 

That meant that Virat Kohli took over the reigns and ushered in a new era, at least in whites for India. On a temporary basis, at least, he had shown that brand of cricket he wished to display in the Adelaide Test of 2014, with a sparkling 141 in the fourth innings, which almost gave India the win, in their pursuit of 364.

Under Kohli’s tenure as full-time skipper, India have been on the ascent, having lost just a solitary game to Sri Lanka in Galle in August 2015. Since that defeat, the Test team have been on an unbeaten run of 15 matches, having won 9 and drawn 6 of them.

The start of the streak

After the loss in Galle, Kohli and his men came back to win back-to-back Tests and won the Test series 2-1, they then defeated South Africa 3-0 at home with the other Test in Bengaluru producing no result, thanks to heavy rain.

In July, Kohli and his men embarked on a four-match Test series to the West Indies and won the first and the third Tests to clinch the series 2-0. They returned home and won the home series against New Zealand 3-0 and following a slight hiccup against England in Rajkot, clinched the Test in Vizag by 246 runs to go 1-0 up, then beat the Englishman in Mohali, followed by yet another win Mumbai before equalling the mark in Chennai on Tuesday.

 

No.	Captain	Unbeaten matches	Record	Duration of streak
1.	Virat Kohli*	18*	14 wins, 4 draws*	August 2015 to December 2016*
2.	Kapil Dev	17	4 wins, 12 draws, 1 tie	September 1985 to March 1987
3.	Mohammad Azharuddin	14	9 wins, 5 draws	January 1993 to December 1994
4	MS Dhoni	11	8 wins, 3 draws	November 2008 to February 2010