Gambhir praised Virat Kohli's contribution to Test cricket, saying- this is what made you a successful captain.
Virat Kohli is the Indian captain who has won the most matches in Test cricket. He is known for his aggressive approach in Tests. Team India won the series even on foreign soil under his captaincy. Australia is the biggest example of this. The secret of their success was fast bowlers, with the help of whom Kohli defeated every team. In the latest interview with BCCI, Gautam Gambhir praised Virat Kohli for this contribution. Gambhir said that preparing fast bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Jaspreet Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav is Kohli's biggest contribution.
Why did Kohli become the most successful Test captain?
In the latest video of BCCI, both the legends have shared their experiences. During this, Gambhir said that the real identity of any cricketer and team is determined by Test cricket. In such a situation, he praised Kohli's approach. According to the head coach of Team India, it is easy to form a strong batting unit as a batsman.
But Test matches are won by taking 20 wickets and for this, a bowling unit is needed. Kohli did this job very well. Gambhir said that 'your attitude towards fast bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Jaspreet Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav was very impressive.'
Virat Kohli is known for winning matches even on foreign soil on the basis of his aggressive captaincy and fast bowlers in Test cricket. India's pace attack saw its best phase under his captaincy. During Kohli's captaincy, 6 bowlers of Team India took 100 wickets. Under Virat Kohli's captaincy, Mohammed Shami took 168 wickets in 46 matches, Jaspreet Bumrah took 103 in 24 matches, Ishant Sharma took 121 in 43 matches, Umesh Yadav took 104 in 37 matches, Ashwin took 293 in 55 matches and Ravindra Jadeja took 165 wickets in 40 matches.
Indian fast bowlers took 8.7 wickets per match at an average of 26.55 abroad. He also achieved the feat of taking 5 wickets 22 times. This is the most by any Indian captain. After Kapil Dev, he was only the second captain when the average of fast bowlers was below 30 abroad. Not only this, the best strike rate (51.3) of fast bowlers was also during Kohli's era.
Captain with the most wins
Virat Kohli took over the captaincy on the Australia tour in 2014. He was just 25 years old then. After that, he captained Team India in Test cricket for 8 years. During this time he won 40 out of 68 matches, while 11 were draws and 17 were lost. Kohli is number one in India and number four in the world in terms of winning the most Test matches.
Let us tell you that Dhoni has won 27 out of 60 and Sourav Ganguly has won 21 out of 49 test matches. Graeme Smith has won 53, Ponting 48, and Waugh 41 matches. Kohli's winning percentage is 58.82, which is third after Steve Waugh's 71.93 and Ricky Ponting's 62.34.