"Better It Came From You": How Virat Kohli 'Sacrificed' Himself For Team India's Success

Under Virat Kohli's captaincy, Team India achieved heights in Test cricket that it had never experienced before.

As Virat Kohli ends his Test career, he goes down in history as a batter, a captain who did all he could to uplift the reputation of the game's oldest format. Under Kohli's captaincy, India achieved some never-seen-before milestones, especially in overseas conditions. Kohli's Test record speaks for itself, but not many are aware of the sacrifices he made in the latter stages of his career. While there's no denying that Kohli's numbers as a batter dipped in the last few years, there stands quite a selfless motive behind it.

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch, in a chat on Jio Star, explained how Kohli backed more spin-friendly surfaces in India for home Test assignments in order to give his team a better chance to secure wins, even if such a strategy came at the cost of his own performances with the bat.

"What really stands out to me about Virat's leadership is that you can look at his numbers now and say they're not as good as they were five years ago. But he was playing on some wickets in India that were spinning hugely from day one. It was about putting your own ego aside to say, 'What's the best thing for my team right now to win a Test match against this opposition?'" Finch said.

"They could have rolled out some flat wickets and said, 'I'm going to cash in on my own runs and make sure that my record stacks up with some of the all-time greats,' but he put his own ego aside and said, 'I want what's best for my team to win this match,'" Finch added.

"Brilliant point, and it sounds better when it comes from you rather than me," former India coach Ravi Shastri, who was also a part of the discussion on the day of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders match in the IPL 2025.