File photo of Virat Kohli.
After being at the helm of Royal Challengers Bangalore for nine seasons, Virat Kohli's time as their captain is now coming to an end. After all, the 32-year-old modern-day batting great has finally succumbed to the pressure of delivering titles at the big stage and has decided to step down as the franchise's captain after a barren title run.
The writing was on the wall since the day he took the call of letting go his T20 captaincy with the national team as well. However the good news is with the captaincy monkey off his back, Kohli the batsman will be in full flow.
Back in 2013 when Kohli took charge as the captain, the expectations were sky high from the leading Indian batsmen to take RCB through to their maiden title. However, the skipper failed to deliver the desired result despite having a star-studded team at his disposal. Known for leading with aggression, Kohli's winning percentage during the period doesn't inflict much confidence.
Looking at Kohli's captaincy record in T20I cricket, he may be ahead of Dhoni in terms of win percentage but when it comes to trophies, Kohli lags far behind. Kohli's win percentage in T20 cricket as captain is 65.11 while Dhoni's win percentage is 59.28. Although the title of the 2007 T20 World Cup is registered in Dhoni's name as captain, while Kohli's Jhaali is still empty.
However, unlike international cricket, Kohli's win percentage as captain in IPL is 48.04, which raises many big questions. Under Kohli's captaincy, RCB has played a total of 132 matches, out of which the team has been successful in winning 60 while it has lost 65. During this 3 matches were tied and 2 could not get any result. In contrast, Mumbai captain Rohit has won 5 IPL titles for his team and his win percentage is more than 60.
| Player | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Dravid | 2008-2008 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| KP Pietersen | 2009-2009 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| A Kumble | 2009-2010 | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 54.28 |
| DL Vettori | 2011-2012 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 53.57 |
| V Kohli | 2011-2021 | 132 | 60 | 65 | 3 | 4 | 48.04 |
| SR Watson | 2017-2017 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
Stat credit: EspnCricinfo
