Virat Kohli captained India in 95 ODIs between July 2013 and March 2021. India won 65, lost 27, tied one and had two no-results, a win rate of 70.43%. His time in charge ended in December 2021, when the BCCI named Rohit Sharma as India’s white-ball captain ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Virat Kohli’s ODI captaincy record
| Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | No result | Win % |
| 95 | 65 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 70.43 |
Kohli first led India in July 2013, standing in for an injured MS Dhoni at a tri-series in the West Indies. He made 102 against West Indies at Port of Spain in his second match as captain. His last ODI as captain was against England at Pune on 28 March 2021.
How Kohli compares with India’s other ODI captains
Among India captains who led in 50 or more ODIs, only Rohit Sharma has a better win rate than Kohli. Rohit won 42 of his 56 matches in charge (77.27%).
| Captain | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Win % |
| Rohit Sharma | 2017-2025 | 56 | 42 | 12 | 77.27 |
| Virat Kohli | 2013-2021 | 95 | 65 | 27 | 70.43 |
| MS Dhoni | 2007-2018 | 200 | 110 | 74 | 59.52 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2000-2007 | 79 | 42 | 33 | 56 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 174 | 90 | 76 | 54.16 |
| Kapil Dev | 1982-1987 | 74 | 39 | 33 | 54.16 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 1999-2005 | 146 | 76 | 65 | 53.9 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 73 | 23 | 43 | 35.07 |
Series wins and ICC tournaments
Kohli’s India won an ODI series 5-1 in South Africa in February 2018. In January 2019 they came from 1-0 down to beat Australia 2-1, India’s first bilateral ODI series win in Australia.
The ICC trophies did not come. India reached the 2017 Champions Trophy final and lost to Pakistan by 180 runs at The Oval. At the 2019 World Cup they lost the semi-final to New Zealand by 18 runs at Manchester.
Kohli the batter as captain
The captaincy did not slow his batting. As captain, Kohli scored 5,449 ODI runs in 91 innings at an average of 72.65 and a strike rate of 98.28, with 21 hundreds and 27 fifties. Only Ricky Ponting, with 22, has more ODI hundreds as captain, and no ODI captain with 2,000 or more runs has a higher average.
Kohli has kept playing ODIs since giving up the job. By October 2026 he had scored 15,109 runs and 55 hundreds in 317 ODIs. For the captain who followed him, see Rohit Sharma’s captaincy record.
Figures from ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru, to October 2026.
Featured photo: Punit Paranjpe / AFP