Ex India batter and batting coach Sanjay Manjrekar drew comparisons between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly's leadership periods in Test cricket. Both Ganguly and Kohli were particularly recognized for their assertive captaincy styles and their strong desire to secure Test victories in foreign conditions. Each of their captaincy stints was marked by numerous unforgettable wins for India on foreign soil.
Kohli stands as India's most successful Test captain, having secured 40 wins in 68 matches, including a record seven victories in SENA countries, the most by any Indian captain. When comparing the captaincy approaches of Kohli and Ganguly, Bangar observed that each had distinct strategies; some proved effective, while others didn't.
“I think looking back Virat Kohli’s captaincy phase was similar to Sourav Ganguly’s phase was also, since 2001 to maybe 2004-05 where the onus was on wanting to win Test matches abroad. I believe that broadly, different methods. Everybody wants to do or achieve that but I think some methods work and some didn’t,” Bangar told during an interaction at the Rao podcast.
Kohli’s choice to resign from Test captaincy stemmed from his strained relations with the BCCI and the team management.
The 35-year old earlier resigned from the T20I captaincy following the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, despite his wish to remain in the position, he was replaced as ODI captain, with Rohit Sharma taking over in both limited-overs formats.
Kohli played a huge role in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final against South Africa back in June. He scored a gutsy knock of 76(59) to win the Man Of The Match award as the Men in Blue edged the Proteas by just 7 runs to lift their 2nd title. Following the victory, Virat retired from the shortest format of the game along with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. The T20I captaincy is now with Suryakumar Yadav, while Rohit continues to be the ODI as well as the Test skipper.