India thrashed West Indies by 257 runs in the second and final Test of the two-match series to complete a series whitewash on Monday and go on top of the World Test Championship table with 120 points.
The victory was also 28th in Tests for Kohli as a captain — the most by any Indian in the longest format of the game. Kohli overtook Mahnedra Singh Dhoni, who had 27 wins under his belt from 60 games at the helm.
Kohli has a win percentage of 58.33 — the best among Indian captains in the longest format of the game. Under his captaincy, India have played 48 Tests, winning 28 of them and losing and drawing 10 each. Dhoni, his predecessor, captained India in 60 Tests, winning 27, losing 18 and drawing 15. The former captain had a win per cent of 45.
Sourav Ganguly is third in the list with 21 wins from 49 games as captain. He lost 13 and drew 15.
The 30-year-old had also surpassed Ganguly with the most Test wins in overseas matches for India as captain after the first Test of the series. Kohli now has 13 away wins as captain in 27 matches, while Ganguly had 11 wins in 28 games.
Kohli took over as the Indian captain during the tour of Australia in 2014, a series that India lost 1-3 Down Under. However, in 2018, India beat Australia away 2-1 in a hard faught four-match series under his watch to script history and become the first Indian team to win a Test series in Australia.
However, it was not the case in West Indies as India won the two-match series without breaking much of a sweat.
Chasing a near-impossible target of 468, West Indies batting once again failed to show stomach for a good fight as they caved in for 210 in 59.5 overs, well inside the fourth day. This win comes after another comprehensive 318-run win in the first Test.
Following the win in Jamaica, Kohli credited the bowlers for making India a complete and winning team under his watch.
“It’s a by-product of the quality team we have here (becoming the most successful Indian captain). If we didn’t have the bowlers we have, these results wouldn’t have been possible.
“If you see these guys running in – Shami’s spell today, Bumrah after having a small niggle, Ishant bowling his heart out, Jadeja bowling a long spell. Captaincy is just a C in front of your name. It’s the collective effort that matters,” the skipper was modesty personified.
“For us, it’s just the start of the (World Test) Championship. Whatever’s happened in the past is irrelevant,” he said.
India will now fly back home to play a three-match T20I series against South Africa, starting September 15 and that will be followed by three Test matches in October.
