Virat Kohli - the T20I captain with unearned ill-repute
When Virat Kohli walks out to lead India against Namibia in the T20 World Cup 2021 on Monday, it will be his 50th and last match in charge of the team.
In the 49 matches he has led the country, India have won 29 and lost 16, which makes it a win percentage of 63.82. Of all the players who have led their team in more matches than Kohli, only Afghanistan's Asghar Afghan (81.73%) has a better success rate.
Only Aaron Finch has more runs to his name as T20I captain than Virat Kohli. While Kohli has scored 1570 runs in 46 innings, the Australian captain has scored 1719 in 54 innings. New Zealand's Kane Williamson, though, is hot on Kohli's trail, having scored 1509 runs in 54 innings. Maybe by the end of this World Cup, Kane would be No.2. But it would still have taken him longer to reach there than Kohli.
Among those who have led their teams as T20I captains, no one has a better average than Kohli. Only Babar Azam, with an average of 47.12, is even in the same league as Kohli's(47.58). Interestingly, the third-highest T20I average among captains of Test-playing nations belongs to India's very own Rohit Sharma - 712 runs at an average of 41.88 in 19 innings.
Last time @imVkohli as T20 captain and last time @RaviShastriOfc in that Indian dug out as Head Coach. The baton will pass. While it hasn’t been a good World Cup, here are some very important things to remember and celebrate them for. https://t.co/7ByNJ9EZ1Q
From the statistics, it is amply clear that Kohli doesn't deserve even half the shade thrown at him for his captaincy. Especially in the T20 format, where he is consistently at the top in every metric.
The only stat that doesn't look good for him is his toss record - only 19 wins in 49 games. A significant deviation of 12% from the 50% one would come to expect of a tossed coin. But one cannot, in good faith, accuse a player of being bad at calling the toss or spinning the coin.
Virat Kohli - Good but unlucky
One can, on the other hand, call Virat Kohli unlucky. Luck might not be an acquired or practicable skill, but let's face it - captains need luck. And tosses need luck. The toss might not play as big a role in the game as India's fielding coach Bharat Arun feels, but it is better to win it than not to.
It is better to get the opportunity to draw first blood than be the passive party in the deal. Has Kohli won games despite losing the toss? Of course. Has he lost games despite winning the toss? Yes, he has.
Here's a fun fact: In the first 17 games in charge of India, Kohli lost six. That's not the point here. The point is that India lost the toss in all six of those games. Only in the 18th game, a loss against Australia in Brisbane, did India lose the game after winning the toss.
T20I captains with poor 'toss' record
(min 30 T20I matches as captain)
36.67% - Carlos Brathwaite (11/30)
38.30% - Virat Kohli (18/47)
The best toss record as T20I captain...
61.70% - Daren Sammy (29/47)
Even more surprisingly, that happened only one more time - India winning the toss but losing the game - before the start of this World Cup. Of course, both losses India endured in this tournament came after losing the toss.
So, in a very roundabout way, one can surmise that Virat Kohli does not win many tosses. But when he wins them, he very rarely loses the game - two losses from 19.
Having taken up the mantle of leading the side in T20I games only in 2017, the 2021 World Cup is Virat Kohli's one and only ICC T20I tournament. If things had gone to plan and the tournament taken place when it ought to have, maybe things might have panned out differently.
It is rather juvenile to expect a captain - any captain, for that matter - to win the only tournament he plays in. It is even more childish to denounce him for not doing so. Just because MS Dhoni won his first ICC tournament, it doesn't mean everyone would do likewise.
In contrast to Virat Kohli the T20I batter, Virat Kohli the T20I captain is a case of 'what if'. What if lady luck had favoured him? What if he could have overcome the only real issue he had - winning tosses. We will never know.
However, one thing is for certain: the amount of flak Kohli (for now) is getting is simply unwarranted.
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