A statistical comparison of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma: how often each won while chasing a target and while setting one.
Wins and losses for every captain, split by format and by whether the team batted first (defending) or second (chasing).
| Captain | Format | Condition | Matches | Wins | Win % | Losses | Loss % |
|---|
Win % and loss % do not add to 100: the rest are draws (Tests), ties or no-results. IPL is excluded.
Dhoni won more by chasing. Kohli was balanced. Rohit won most when India batted first.
ODIs and T20Is, defending vs chasing
Rohit won 27 of 33 T20Is when defending (81.82%) on the way to the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Batting first vs batting second
Kohli won 29 of 43 Tests when batting first (67.44%), including series wins in Australia.
Six normalized measures. Higher is better; 100 on silverware means a full set of ICC titles in the sample.
Team selection, bowling plans and risk-taking changed across two decades.
Wet balls are hard for spinners to grip. Dhoni preferred chasing under dew; Rohit set high first-innings totals instead.
Dhoni leaned on spin at home. Kohli and Rohit built seam attacks that could take 20 wickets anywhere.
250 was defendable in Dhoni's ODIs. Modern par is past 320, so Rohit pushed the early run rate higher.
Dhoni won 3 ICC trophies with calm finishes. Rohit paired a 72.52% overall win rate with the 2024 T20 World Cup.