Kohli who succeeded MS Dhoni as skipper of the Indian Test side in 2014 failed to win an ICC trophy. Also, the Men In Blue finished runners-up at the 2017 Champions Trophy and could hardly made to to the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup in 2019.

Despite Kohli’s exceptional captaincy tenure and his failure to win leading ICC titles, former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has hit back at the batting icon’s critics for labelling him as a ‘failed’ captain.

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“People who do not understand the game of cricket very well judge a captain’s performance based on how he has fared in the Champions Trophy or the World Cup. However, if you have a good win percentage and are tactically very strong, but haven’t won a big tournament, it wouldn’t be fair to say that you haven’t been a good captain,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“There might have been a few mistakes in high-pressure games, or it might just have been a case of luck. Not winning an ICC tournament doesn’t tell us that he [Virat Kohli] wasn’t a strong leader,” added Butt.

The former Pakistan cricketer played 33 Tests, 24 T20Is and 78 ODIs for his country.

“There is still some scope for improvement in Babar Azam’s captaincy. When you look at how Virat Kohli led his side in Tests, it was fantastic. He won a lot of matches and even overseas series. However, he couldn’t win a final. When such a thing happens, it seems at times that the team hasn’t been able to win a final because of him,” Butt added.

For the record, as the captain of the Indian side in the 50-over format, Kohli won 65 matches out of 95.