Virat Kohli leaves Ricky Ponting, Alastair Cook behind in first 50 Tests as captain

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Virat Kohli returned to form in the second Test against South Africa at the MCA Stadium in Pune as India beat South Africa by an innings and 137 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series. The win was Kohli's 30th as a captain in Test cricket in 50 games and took the hosts to 20 points -- a whopping 140 more than second-placed New Zealand.

But, Kohli's double century, a career-best 254 not out, also helped him achieve another milestone and with some distance from second-placed Ricky Ponting.

The Delhi dasher now has 4956 runs as a captain in his first 50 Test matches, starting from Adelaide in 2014, when he first led the Indian side in whites. Following Kohli are Ponting (4644), Alastair Cook (4233), Allan Border (4044) and Graeme Smith (3937) in the top five.

Kohli has an impressive rate of scoring 18.7 per cent of the team's run scored and a an average of 99.1 runs per Test during his tenure as captain, which is 2.5 percent more than the former Australia captain Ponting. Under Kohli's regime, Cheteshwar Pujara (3560) is India's next highest run-getter, followed by Ajinkya Rahane (2802).

In the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin led the line with 233 wickets, followed by Ravindra Jadeja (153) and Mohammed Shami (123).

However, in terms of captaincy statistics, the 30-year-old remains behind the Australian greats -- Ponting and Steve Waugh and West Indies's Vivian Richards.

Waugh has the most number of wins after 50 games -- winning 37, losing 8 and drawing 5 with a win to loss ratio of 4.6. Ponting is next with 35 wins, 6 losses and 9 draws and a win to loss ratio of 5.8. Kohli is next with 30 wins, 10 losses and 10 draws with a win to loss ratio of 3.0 and Richards last with 27 wins from his first 50 Tests, 8 losses and 15 draws at a ratio of 3.4.

At home, Ponting is the most successful. Under him, Australia won 22 games from 26 in his first 50 games as captain. He is followed by Waugh (18 off 22 games) and Kohli (17 off 23 games). Mahendra Singh Dhoni is fifth in the list with 21 wins from 30 games.

But, Kohli's numbers pummel further when it comes to away Test matches.

Kohli (4th) has won only 13 of the 27 Tests away from home, losing 9 with a win per cent of 48.1. The list is topped by Waugh (67.9 per cent), Ponting (54.2 per cent), Richards (46.2) and Michael Vaughan stands fifth with a per cent of 40.9 per cent.

Kohli remains one of India's finest however and his numbers will grow further with India's assignment with Bangladesh coming up next month, when India host them for a two-match Test series.