Forged in fire: Captain Virat Kohli led from the front, both with the bat and in aggression; here's a look at his record

Kohli was first handed reins of the Indian team in 2014 after Dhoni stepped down as Test captain. In 2017, he became the full-time captain of the Indian team after stepping up to the helm in the limited-overs formats as well.

Since then, Kohli had led India in 66 Test matches, 95 ODIs and 50 T20Is. And here's how he fared.

In Test cricket, Kohli's captaincy has been nothing short of spectacular. The wunderkind-turned-statesman now has the distinction of being the most successful Test captain for India ever, with 39 victories and a winning percentage of 59 -- leapfrogging Dhoni, who led India to 27 wins in 60 Tests (45 percent). Twenty-five of the wins under Kohli came at home and the rest away. Kohli also holds the record of having led the national side for the most matches. Under his stewardship, India lost 16 games and drew 11.

Kohli also enjoys the status of scoring the most centuries as captain, with 20. These included seven double centuries. Only South Africa's Graeme Smith (25) has more Test centuries as captain than Kohli. However, Kohli didn't score a single hundred in the past two years, his last coming against Bangladesh in 2019. Kohli has also scored the highest number of runs (5,703) as captain than anyone other Indian.

It would be his time as skipper in the limited-overs versions of the game, especially the 50 overs variant, that Kohli would feel some regret. In 95 ODIs, Kohli led India to 65 wins and 27 losses, with three games ending in a no-result or a tie. This translates into a winning percentage of 68--by no means bad, but Kohli's biggest regret would be his failure in lifting the silverware in any ICC competition. The side's performance in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and, more recently, this year's T20 World Cup, would especially sting. In terms of winning percentage, he is the fourth most successful Indian ODI captain, after Dhoni, Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin.

As batsman, however, Kohli did nothing but impress. Kohli has scored the second highest number of runs (5,441) as an Indian ODI captain, second only to Dhoni (6,641). He also scored the most centuries as captain. Only Ricky Ponting, who scored 22 centuries as Australia's skipper, has more tons under his. belt.

In the shortest form of cricket, Virat Kohli won 60% of the games as captain--he led India in 50 matches. Under his leadership, India lost 16 matches and the rest were either a tie or did not end in a result.

Again, Kohli's biggest claim to success as skipper would be as a batsman, India not having won any tournaments. He has scored the most T20I runs (1,570) as Indian captain, and is fourth among all captains.  Kohli also holds the record for being the quickest to 1,000 runs as skipper--he achieved the feat in 30 innings, one fewer than South Africa's Fan du Plessis.

Under Kohli, Indian won series in New Zealand (5-0, 2020), Australia (2-1, 2020), England (2-1, 2018), and South Africa (2-1, 2018).

Yet again, it is a lack of silverware stands out as a sore spot in Kohli's captaincy record.

Mere numbers, however, are a mean measure of the value Kohli brought to the team. Brimming with vim and vigour, and blessed with oodles of aggression and energy, he fired up the Indian side like no other captain before him could--save, perhaps, for Sourav Ganguly. Kohli was his side's alpha, and acted like it at all times. He led his team from the front and was more often than not the first to jump into the fray--any fray--all for the sake of pride, not his, but India's. Kohli never made bones of the fact that he bled saffron, white and green with a dab of the navy blue. His immediate and ready defence of Mohammad Shami, who was being trolled on social media following India's loss to Pakistan in the recent T20 World Cup is but one example of Kohli putting his team and mates before himself.

The last couple of years, especially the past few months may have been rough on the dasher from Delhi, but Virat Kohli has left an everlasting imprint--forging the  Indian cricket side in fire--and a blueprint for future captains to follow.