Does Virat Kohli's poor record in SENA tests gets overshadowed by overwhelming home record?

Mumbai: All that Glitters is not Gold, the saying seems true after all with Indian Captain Virat Kohli. He recorded the new low as the Indian team suffered a humiliating 8-wickets defeat at the Adelaide Oval against the Australian side in the first test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.

Virat Kohli is often termed as the most successful Test captain in the history of Indian cricket with the most number of wins (33) as a skipper despite having led the side in only 56 matches. However, the past couple of series have been far from good for the Indian captain, who has now found himself on the losing side in three straight Test matches. As a captain, Kohli has lost three consecutive Test matches for the first time since taking over the captaincy in 2014.

At the start of 2020 India had lost the two-match Test series against New Zealand 2-0. The visitors lost the first Test in Wellington by 10 wickets before enduring a 7-wicket loss in the second Test against the Kiwis in Christchurch. While Kohli has lost three Tests as captain for the first time, India will also finish without a win under him in the calendar year for the first time since 2015.

The harsh reality is that India's only major notable win on overseas soil has been their maiden series win over Australia in 2018. The Indian team under Kohli has tasted a major chunk of its success on home soil, where conditions have always been ideally suited to their game plan and strengths. A breakdown of Kohli's Test captaincy record makes the picture more clear. 

While his domestic track record as Indian skipper is overwhelming with a staggering 76.9 win percentage (20 Wins in 26 Tests), his win ratio (13 wins in 29 Tests) certainly takes a massive drop (43.33%) while captaining the team abroad. His record in SENA countries(South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) is even worse. With just 4 wins out of 17 matches the win percentages drops to 23.52%.

Out of Kohli's 13 overseas wins as skipper, 9 have come against sort of weaker opponents in Sri Lanka (5) and the West Indies (4) at a time when both those sides were at the transition stage and also bottom of the Test rankings. Only 4 wins have come against the much famed SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia).

Though Indian bowling has improved a lot in the recent years with the powerful combination of fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav. Also the likes of Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Siraj and Kartik Tyagi knocking on doors. But the Indian batting under Kohli has been poor on tours. With the improved bowling unit runs are needed to to posted on board to bowl the opposition twice.

To be hailed among the all time great teams in Test cricket, India would need to show its pedigree against quality oppositions in their backyard apart from exerting their supremacy on home soil. Big statements for the head coach Ravi Shastri doesn't live upto the hype after series defeats in England, South Africa and New Zealand It could only be possible if the batsmen can put up daunting totals on the board to give the bowlers a real chance to have a go at the opposition.