Virat Kohli Vs Rohit Sharma: Who Is A Better Test Captain?

Kohli Vs Rohit - the captaincy battle [Source: AP Photos]

On this day in December 2014, a young Virat Kohli took charge of the India captaincy for the first time. He had no prior experience of leading the team in the game's longest format, but the selectors played a punt and it worked for them.

Over the next 7 years, he went onto become the most successful Test captain, not only for India, but in the world as well. However, after a series loss Vs South Africa in 2021-22, he decided to step down from the post and his deputy, Rohit Sharma was appointed the new skipper.

Under Rohit's captaincy, India reached the WTC finals in 2023, but have been struggling to repeat the same feat in this cycle. On Kohli's Test captaincy anniversary, we look at the records of both him and Rohit as India's Test leader.

Virat Kohli record as Test captain

In 68 matches as the leader of the Test team, Virat Kohli won 40 matches and had a win percentage of 58.82, one of the highest in the history of cricket. When the names come up for the best Test captain in the history of this game, Kohli's name is also included.

When he took over, India were at the 7th position in ICC rankings and he took them to the top of the rankings with stellar wins both home and away.

Rohit Sharma's record as Test captain

The sample size is not as big as Kohli, but Rohit started his captaincy tenure with a win Vs Sri Lanka. However, as a leader, he missed numerous matches in away conditions, and while India always boasted invincible record at home, that confidence was also shattered this year.

The touring Kiwi side inflicted a 3-0 whitewash at home as India failed to win even a single match and captain Rohit came under scutiny. Also, he has just won a solitary match in SENA country, which came up against South Africa. In a short span of 22 matches, he has already lost 8 matches, and had the unwanted record of getting whitewashed at home.

Virat Kohli Vs Rohit Sharma: Difference in Captaincy styles 

While Virat Kohli was an aggressive Test captain and wanted to win at any cost, and at any situation, Rohit has a laid-back approach, which works well in limited-overs cricket, but is not suitable for Tests.

In Tests, the batters don't take unnecessary risks and the captain has to be a bit more proactive, which Kohli was during his tenure. However, Rohit waits for something to happen and it often fails to work. Plus, looking at what transpired in the Adelaide Test, Rohit lacks a Plan B when his Plan A fails to work.

Conclusion

Rohit Sharma is an excellent white-ball leader and his number speaks for himself, however, in Tests, he is yet to cement his legacy. His captaincy style doesn't suit the Test format, and on the other hand, Kohli is known as one of the greatest leaders of this game, and was the one who took India to the top of the ICC rating charts.

Hence, looking at the numbers and the captaincy styles, Kohli is definitely the better Test captain of the two.

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