Kohli's Test captaincy in numbers: Why is Virat India's greatest skipper

Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain of India following the side's 1-2 defeat to South Africa in the recently-concluded series.

Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test captain on Saturday, bringing an end to the Kohli-captaincy era. After stepping down as T20I skipper before the start of the 2021 T20 World Cup and after being ousted as the ODI captain, the 33-year-old decided to completely give up the leadership role.

In Numbers: Why Virat Kohli is the greatest Test skipper India's ever had (REUTERS)

The decision comes after his team suffered a morale-crushing 2-1 defeat at the hands of South Africa. Despite winning a historic first Test in Centurion, the Asian giants could not contain the Proteas fire.

But Kohli walks away as the nation's greatest leader in the whites. With 40 wins, and 17 defeats, in 68 matches, Kohli is so far the most successful Test skipper India has ever seen. After all, it was under him that the country won its first-ever Test series in Australia.

Moreover, they inched ahead to take an unassailable 2-1 lead against England with one match to go. That feat in the 2021 series including wins at Lord's and the Oval. He took the side to the inaugural World Test Championship final and guided the nation to its maiden Test triumph at Centurion in South Africa. Under him, the side only drew 11 Tests.

As a batter too while donning the captaincy, Kohli didn't disappoint. he averaged 54.80 in 68 matches, amassing 5864 runs. His stats include 20 centuries and 18 fifties.

As a leader, Kohli left behind one of India' most celebrated and decorated captains, MS Dhoni. In 60 matches, Dhoni could manage just 27 wins, 18 losses and 15 wins.

Moroever, in terms of win percentage after a minimum of 20 Tests, Kohli ranks fourth in the list. Giving him company at the top spot is Stever Waugh with 71.93 percent. Following Waugh is Don Bradman (62.50) and Ricky Ponting (62.34). Kohli rounds off the top-4 at 58.82 percent.

While the players, the fans, and the cricketing fraternity will miss the never-say-never spirit of Kohli as skipper and would have wanted him to continue, the right-hander, in a statement on Twitter, explained why he's called it quits.