Virat Kohli vs Kane Williamson - Who had a better Test captaincy career?

An era in Test cricket came to an end earlier this month as Kane Williamson stepped down from the position of New Zealand skipper.

Williamson took over the reins of the Blackcaps team from Brendon McCullum in 2016. Just a year before that, Virat Kohli had taken over the Indian Test team's leadership from MS Dhoni.

Almost seven years later, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are no longer captains of their respective Test teams. Both left the position in 2022. Kohli stepped down after India's 1-2 defeat against South Africa earlier this year, while Williamson handed over the captaincy to Tim Southee before the Pakistan series.

Both players left a lasting impact on Test cricket with their remarkable. Virat Kohli was an aggressive leader. Kane Williamson, on the other hand, used his calmness to take New Zealand to the pinnacle of the Test cricket world. In this article, we will now compare the achievements and failures of the two former Test captains.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs. Kane Williamson - Who had the better win percentage as captain?

The first comparison between Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson will be their win percentage. Kohli believed in playing result-oriented cricket in the longest format of the game. He led the Indian team in 68 Tests, where the team recorded 40 wins. Kohli's win percentage as India's Test captain was 58.25%.

Kane Williamson was not as aggressive as Virat Kohli but his leadership skills were excellent. He knew the art of bringing the best out of the individuals in his team. Williamson won 22 out of 40 Tests in his captaincy career, with his win percentage being 55%.

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#2 Virat Kohli vs. Kane Williamson - Who had the worse losing percentage as captain?

Virat Kohli suffered a defeat in 17 out of the 68 Tests where he captained the Indian team. His losing percentage as the team's skipper was 25%.

Interestingly, even Kane Williamson lost 25% of his Tests as New Zealand captain. The Blackcaps suffered 10 defeats in 40 matches under his captaincy.

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#3 Kohli vs. Williamson - Who won more trophies?

India v New Zealand - ICC World Test Championship Final: Reserve Day (Image: Getty)

When it comes to winning trophies in Test cricket, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the World Test Championship title by leading his team to a win against India in the final.

Virat Kohli never won the WTC trophy, but he won the ICC Test Mace five consecutive times. Hence Kohli arguably has an edge over Williamson in this aspect as well.

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#4 Kohli vs. Williamson - Who had a better win percentage in overseas Tests?

A major change that happened in Indian cricket after Virat Kohli took over the team's reins was that the team achieved more success in foreign Tests. India won the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy under Kohli's captaincy on Australian soil.

Overall, India won 16 out of 36 overseas Tests under Kohli, meaning his win percentage was 44.44%. Surprisingly, New Zealand won only three out of 14 overseas Tests under Williamson, with his win percentage being 21.42%.

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#5 Kohli vs. Williamson - Who had a better win percentage in home Tests?

Both India and New Zealand were unbeatable in Tests on home soil under Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, respectively. Speaking of the numbers, Williamson won 16 out of 22 home Tests, equalling to 72.72%.

Kohli registered a win in 24 out of 31 home Tests, which equals to 77.41%. Again, Kohli wins against Williamson.

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#6 Kohli vs. Williamson - Head-to-head record

The final comparison is the head-to-head record. Kohli and Williamson went up against each other seven times. None of the games ended in a draw. Virat won two Tests, while Kane won three.

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Kohli has a better record than Williamson in four of the six aspects. The only comparison where Williamson was ahead of Kohli was the head-to-head record, while the losing percentage of both captains was the same. Clearly, Kohli had a better Test captaincy stint for the Men in Blue than Williamson for the Kiwis.