It will just take one win for Virat Kohli to come to the third place as the all-time successful Test captain that India has ever produced.
Cricket news: Kohli rose to the top spot by scoring 200 runs in Edgbaston Test
The former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is in total awe for the current Indian captain and believes that Kohli’s ascent to the top of Test ranking of batsmen has been because of iron-hard focus and determination.
Kohli took the No. 1 position after he overtook former Australian skipper Steve Smith, who had stayed at the top for 32 months.
Kohli’s 200 runs in the Edgbaston Test against England took him to the top spot while Steve Smith is currently serving a one-year ban.
Kohli is also the No. 1 batsman in the ODIs and is ahead of the second-ranked batsman Babar Azam of Pakistan by 86 points.
“Virat Kohli’s conviction and determination in difficult situations, his selection of shots, and ability to dominate the bowlers in every sphere of the game is extraordinary. He is rightly the No. 1 batsman in the world. He may not have been at his fluent best at Birmingham but his attitude of not giving up stands tall,” Ganguly told Times of India.
“This is also an example of batsmanship: Even if it’s not your day, you still make the runs. It’s a huge statement that the other batsman need to stand up. I believe that this batting line-up has the ability to score runs in these conditions. Virat, the leader, has a job on hand. He will have to get this team going. The confidence needs to be brought back: It’s more in the mind and that will be his challenge on this tour,” he added.
In the first innings Kohli was dropped on 21 and 51 and he paid the price by hitting 149 off 225 balls. It also ended all the criticisms he was facing for not scoring in English conditions.
He also scored 51 runs in the second innings but could not take his team through, because of lack of support from other batsmen, as India lost the game by 31 runs.
Sourav Ganguly is one of few Indian captains who returned from England by remaining undefeated in Tests. He praised the way the first Test underwent and said that the game showed why the longest format still provides an ultimate test for players.
“It was a humdinger of a battle with the pendulum swinging this way and that every now and again. Ultimately, the team that held its nerves and delivered when it mattered came out on top,” Ganguly said.