VIRAT KOHLI : THE PINNACLE OF TEAM INDIA

. Virat Kohli's pressing task as the new Test skipper is to arrest India's woeful away record, starting with Tuesday's final Test against Australia in Sydney.

Kohli assumed the mantle as India's new captain following the sudden Test retirement of Mahendra Singh Dhoni after last week's Melbourne Test, opening debate on whether his aggressive approach will energise the team. 

India have already lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with Australia holding an unassailable 2-0 lead heading into the fourth Test, but there is much interest in how Kohli's volatility will impact on the team's fortunes.

India have won only one of their last 22 Tests overseas and have been successful in only one of their 10 Tests at the Sydney Cricket Ground, that sole victory coming 37 years ago.

Kohli has been tagged a firebrand, a "spoilt brat" but has been long viewed as the natural successor of Dhoni, who was the most successful Test match skipper in India's history, winning 27 of the 60 Tests he led with 18 losses and 15 draws. 

Now that Dhoni has moved on, India's immediate Test future lies in Kohli's hands and it will be a fascinating sub-plot to this week's Sydney Test.

Australia will be weakened by the loss of ICC Cricketer of the Year and pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson with hamstring trouble, opening the way for Kohli and his other in-form team-mates Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane to get among the runs again.

All are averaging above 58 in this series, with Kohli matching his Australian counterpart Steve Smith with three centuries, and only brittle tail-end batting has been the key difference between the two sides.

"Captains have their own personalities and the best ones make players adapt to their thinking and methods," India team director Ravi Shastri said...