Cricket in Numbers: The Indian Skippers Who Conquered SENA Conditions

Captain	Wins	Matches	Winning Percentage
Virat Kohli	7	24	29.17%
M.A.K. Pataudi	3	10	30.00%
MS Dhoni	3	23	13.04%
Ajinkya Rahane	2	3	66.67%
Shubman Gill	2	5	40.00%

Securing wins in these nations has been challenging, but a few Indian skippers have shown immense leadership qualities to conquer in the SENA conditions. From winning a series in Australia to dominating against England at their home ground, the Indian captains have gone a long way in the Test format. Let’s take a look at the Indian skippers with the most Test wins in SENA countries.

Virat Kohli

India’s best Test captain of all time, Virat Kohli, tops the chart of most SENA wins as an Indian skipper. Virat Kohli has led the team across 24 Test matches in SENA countries, where the team has been able to secure wins in 7 of them. This is the highest number of SENA wins secured by any Indian captain, with no other player coming close to him.

Match	Opposition	Win Margin	Player of the Match
3rd Test, 2018	South Africa	63 Runs	Bhuvneshwar Kumar
3rd Test, 2018	England	203 Runs	Virat Kohli
1st Test, 2018	Australia	31 Runs	Cheteshwar Pujara
3rd Test, 2018	Australia	137 Runs	Jasprit Bumrah
2nd Test, 2021	England	151 Runs	KL Rahul
4th Test, 2021	England	157 Runs	Rohit Sharma
1st Test, 2021	South Africa	113 Runs	KL Rahul

Virat Kohli secured four SENA Test wins in 2018 and three wins in 2021, making him the most dominant Test captain for India. He started his captaincy in the middle of a series against Australia, and since then, showcased that he would end his captaincy stint as India’s best captain in the longest format of the game.

His first SENA Test win as a captain came against South Africa during the 2018 tour. After losing the first two Tests, Kohli and the Indian side marked their comeback in the final match, which was being played in Johannesburg. With India’s bowling brilliance, the team was able to restrict the Proteas from chasing the target, winning the match by a margin of 63 runs.

Later, he led the Indian side against England during the 2018 tour. Critics questioned his form in England, but Kohli replied to them with his bat. In the third Test at Nottingham, he scored 97 runs in the first innings, followed by 103 runs in the second innings. India also went on to win the match by 203 runs, as the skipper received the Player of the Match award.

Already holding two SENA wins, Virat Kohli led the Indian team against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which took place in the same year in Australia. India started off the series with an impressive win in the first match by 31 runs, taking an early lead. This match also helped Virat Kohli to tie with Pataudi and Dhoni for the most SENA wins as an Indian skipper.

Later, he also went on to lead the team to win the third Test by 137 runs, being the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Australia. Following his success in the SENA conditions, he was still not able to secure a single victory in New Zealand. He also led India once again in England for a five-match Test series.

In the second Test match at Lord’s, the Indian team secured a historic win, where Kohli said, “For 60 overs, they should feel like Hell out there”. India ended up winning the second Test by 151 runs, taking a lead in the series. England was able to win the third game and level the scores. But the Kohli-led Indian side defeated England in the fourth Test by 157 runs, to give India a lead of 2-1 while they entered the final game.

Virat Kohli’s last SENA Test victory as a captain came against South Africa in 2021. In the three-match Test series, India won the first Test match by a margin of 113 runs, with KL Rahul receiving the Player of the Match award. With this win, Kohli started his SENA Test wins record against South Africa and also ended it against them.

M.A.K. Pataudi

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, one of the renowned stars of the Indian team, holds the second spot for having the most wins in SENA Tests as a captain. Pataudi had his last SENA tour as a captain in 1968, and since then, he held the top spot in this list till Kohli broke his record in 2018.

Match	Opposition	Win Margin
1st Test, 1968	New Zealand	5 Wickets
3rd Test, 1968	New Zealand	8 Wickets
4th Test, 1968	New Zealand	272 Runs

Although he didn’t secure many Test wins in India, he holds 3 SENA Test wins in 10 matches, and all of these wins have been in New Zealand. This happened during the historic 1968 India tour of New Zealand, where both teams clashed against each other for a four-match Test series. After losing in England and Australia with a whitewash, it was a chance for Pataudi to prove himself.

With the first match being played at Dunedin, India started well to secure a five-wicket win and take an initial lead in the series. Ajit Wadekar played a crucial role in this game, scoring half-centuries in both innings. New Zealand further went on to win the second Test by 6 wickets, as the series was now levelled.

But in the third Test, Pataudi showcased his dominance with his captaincy skills, leading the team to win by 8 wickets. India was now 2-1 ahead in the series, as they headed to the final Test at Auckland. The team also went on to win this game by 272 runs, as all of Pataudi’s SENA Test wins came in New Zealand, in a single tour.

MS Dhoni

Captain Cool, also known as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stands at number three in the list of most SENA Test wins as a captain for India. He has led the Indian team across 23 SENA Test matches, out of which the team was only able to win three Test matches. Although his Test record as a captain was great, even Dhoni struggled to win in such conditions.

Match	Opposition	Win Margin	Player of the Match
1st Test, 2009	New Zealand	10 Wickets	Sachin Tendulkar
2nd Test, 2010	South Africa	87 Runs	VVS Laxman
2nd Test, 2014	England	95 Runs	Ishant Sharma

MS Dhoni secured his first SENA Test win as a captain against New Zealand, which came back in 2009. During the first Test of the series, India dominated from both ends, allowing the team to secure an easy 10-wicket victory, where Sachin Tendulkar received the Player of the Match award.

His second SENA Test win as a captain came against South Africa, not long after the win against New Zealand. In the second Test of the 2010 series in South Africa, India was able to defeat the Proteas in Durban by 87 runs, marking Dhoni’s second win in SENA Tests as a captain.

Dhoni’s final win in this list came against England in 2014, which was also his last Test series in England. In the second Test, India showcased its bowling dominance, as Dhoni’s strategies helped the team to win the game by 95 runs. Ishant Sharma received the POTM award in this game for taking 7 wickets, as Dhoni levelled Pataudi in SENA Test wins as a captain.

Ajinkya Rahane

The only Indian captain with more than 60% Test wins in SENA conditions is none other than Ajinkya Rahane. It should be noted that he has led the Indian team in just three Test matches, out of which the team was able to secure wins in two of them, showcasing his success as a captain.

Match	Opposition	Win Margin	Player of the Match
2nd Test, 2020	Australia	8 Wickets	Ajinkya Rahane
4th Test, 2021	Australia	3 Wickets	Rishabh Pant

This happened during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, when India started off with a series loss under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. The skipper was made unavailable for the remaining Tests, as Rahane was announced as the team’s captain for the remaining three matches. Fortunately, he led the line-up across the most historic Test series between India and Australia.

India started with a victory in the second Test, with Rahane leading the lineup from the front. He scored a century in the first innings, followed by a 27-run not-out knock in the chase, which helped India to win the match and also level the series by 1-1, as they prepared for the remaining two games.

The third match of the series resulted in a draw, and it all went to the historic Gabba win for India. The team showcased its fighting spirit with young talents to defeat Australia by 3 wickets in the series decider game. Also, Rahane held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy firm, leading the team to a victory, being undefeated in SENA Tests as a captain.

Shubman Gill

India’s new Test skipper, Shubman Gill, has joined the list of most Test wins in SENA countries as a captain, just with the series against England. Having just 5 matches as the captain of the team, Gill now holds two wins in SENA conditions, overtaking the other greats who have led the team.

Match	Opposition	Win Margin	Player of the Match
2nd Test, 2025	England	336 Runs	Shubman Gill
5th Test, 2025	England	6 Runs	Mohammed Siraj

The start of the series didn’t go well for Shubman Gill, as India lost a well-deserved game by 5 wickets. Despite all the hate and criticism, he silenced them all by leading the team to win the second match by 336 runs, making it India’s first win at Birmingham.

India also went on to give a great fight in the third Test at Lord’s, but unfortunately lost the game by 22 runs. Captain Gill was not able to contribute well in this game, but he went on to lead the team from the front in the fourth Test. With the fourth game finishing on a draw, it was all down to the final Test at the Oval.

It was a close game between India and England, and Shubman Gill closely worked with his tactics, which helped India to secure a win by 6 runs and draw the series. Shubman Gill, India’s new Test skipper, also received the POTM award for scoring 754 runs across five Test matches.