After MS Dhoni decided to hang up his shoes at the end of the Boxing Day Test during the BGT 2014-15, Virat Kohli became the new Test captain as Ravi Shastri was appointed as the new head coach. That was the biggest change in Indian cricket, as the head coach felt that Kohli’s ability to dominate with the bat and leadership skills were amazing.

Kohli is the fourth leading run-getter in Tests as captain with 5864 runs in 113 innings at an average of 54.80 with the help of 20 centuries and 18 half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 254 runs. Ravi Shastri revealed that he had no doubt of Kohli leading the red-ball charge and earning success.

See Also: "Send countries bankrupt if..."- Cricket Australia CEO warns ICC on future of Test cricket

“It was great. I mean, he was the one man I identified who would lead the team. And I wanted him to lead the team. You know, once I took over the job and once Dhoni had finished, he did a magnificent job. I think, first, his skills as a batsman, his ability to dominate, you know, be in the face, play hard, but play fair, and wanting to win and take the game forward.” The former Indian head coach expressed on Sky Sports Cricket.

Watch: Ravi Shatri shares his thoughts on coaching period under Virat Kohli’s captaincy

The Delhi batter carried the same form even in the ODIs. As captain, he was India’s second leading run-getter in ODIs with 5449 runs in 91 innings at an average of over 72 with 27 fifties and 21 centuries at the best score of unbeaten 160 runs against the Proteas.

"He did a magnificent job" 🙌

Ravi Shastri on what it was like to be India coach whilst Virat Kohli was captain 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/b142Hmgg5i

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 14, 2025

“I would say Kohli, the best batsman in his pomp, was unbelievable because in those five years when India were number one in the red-ball format, some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England, across formats were unreal.” Shastri highlighted in the same video.

Under Kohli, India won their three-match Test series in Sri Lanka before earning the first red-ball series victory in Australia during the 2018-19 trip. They also took the lead of 2-1 under his captaincy during their tour to England in 2021 before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Manchester.