The comparison between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli has been one of the biggest debates in recent times. There is no denying the fact that MS Dhoni has been the most successful captain in Indian cricket with a plethora of wins and trophies under his belt. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has been one of the most successful and in-form cricketers in world cricket in recent times.
Let us see how both of these superstars record head-to-head with each other:
Dhoni vs Kohli Test Record
Dhoni vs Kohli head-to-head in test:
Let’s see how both players compete with each other in the test cricket format:
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MS Dhoni vs Virat Kohli Test Record
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Match appeared | 90 | 123 |
| Innings played | 144 | 210 |
| Runs scored | 4876 | 9230 |
| Average | 38.09 | 46.9 |
| 100/200 | 6 | 30/7 |
| Fifty | 33 | 31 |
| Best | 224 | 254* |
The batting statistics of test match cricket clearly say that Kohli is far ahead of Dhoni. Kohli has scored 30 test centuries while Dhoni has managed to score just 6 centuries. Kohli also averages more than 45 in test cricket which is a very remarkable figure.
Dhoni vs Kohli ODI Stats
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Match appeared | 350 | 302 |
| Innings played | 297 | 290 |
| Runs scored | 10773 | 14181 |
| Average | 50.57 | 57.9 |
| Strike Rate | 87.56 | 93.3 |
| Hundred | 10 | 51 |
| Fifty | 73 | 74 |
| Best | 183* | 183 |
The ODI stats between Dhoni vs Kohli are somewhat close. Although Kohli has scored far more centuries than Dhoni, it is a clear fact that Kohli comes to bat at No 3, and MSD used to come at no 5 or 6. This resulted in Kohli getting more bowls to face.
Dhoni vs Kohli T20I Stats
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Matches appeared | 98 | 125 |
| Innings played | 85 | 117 |
| Runs scored | 1617 | 4188 |
| Average | 37.60 | 51.76 |
| Strike Rate | 126.13 | 137.0 |
| Hundred | 0 | 1 |
| Fifty | 2 | 38 |
| Best | 56 | 122 |
The T20 stats also reflect the fact that Virat Kohli has performed well than MSD.
Dhoni vs Kohli IPL Record :
| Statistics | MS Dhoni (CSK) | Virat Kohli (RCB) |
| Matches appeared | 268 | 256 |
| Innings played | 233 | 248 |
| Runs scored | 5319 | 8168 |
| Average | 39.4 | 38.9 |
| Strike rate | 137.5 | 132.19 |
| Hundred | 0 | 8 |
| Fifty | 24 | 57 |
| Best | 84* | 113 |
If we look at the MS Dhoni vs Virat Kohli Indian Premier League (IPL) record comparison, we can see that again Kohli edges out Dhoni in terms of runs scored and centuries made. In VIVO IPL 2021 Match No 16 RCB vs RR, Virat Kohli played 72 runs inning and became the first player in the Indian Premier League to score 6000 or more runs. But we must remember that Dhoni has won 5 IPL trophies for CSK while Kohli has not achieved this feat. And IPL 2021 was Kohli’s last IPL as captain.
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Talking about the batting record comparison of both these legends in all 3 formats, it’s clear that Virat Kohli is the winner here. But let’s have a look at the captaincy record of both of these players to have a better conclusion.
Dhoni vs Kohli Test Captaincy Record :
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Matches played | 60 | 68 |
| Wins | 27 | 40 |
| Loss | 18 | 16 |
| Draw | 15 | 11 |
| Win % | 45 | 58.82 |
Virat Kohli has surpassed Dhoni in Dhoni vs Kohli Captaincy Record win % for team India.
On 15th January 2022, Kohli announced that he was stepping down as test captain of Team India. On March 22nd Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain.
Dhoni vs Kohli Captaincy Record in ODI :
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Match played | 200 | 95 |
| Wins | 110 | 65 |
| Losses | 74 | 27 |
| Tied | 5 | 1 |
| No Results | 11 | 2 |
| Win % | 59.5 | 70.43 |
If we look at the ODI captaincy of these two legends, we notice that Dhoni has played almost double matches as captain for team India in the blue jersey. Kohli has a higher win percentage as captain. Let’s see how Kohli continues his journey as and when he reaches 200 matches
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Dhoni vs Kohli Captaincy Record in T20I :
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Matches played | 72 | 50 |
| Wins | 41 | 30 |
| Losses | 28 | 16 |
| Tied | 1 | 2 |
| No results | 2 | 2 |
| Win % | 59.2 | 64.58 |
Dhoni vs Kohli Captaincy Record in IPL :
| Statistics | MS Dhoni | Virat Kohli |
| Match | 235 | 143 |
| Wins | 142 | 66 |
| Losses | 90 | 70 |
| Tied | 1 | 3 |
| No Results | 2 | 4 |
| Win % | 60.42 | 46.15 |
If we look at Dhoni vs Kohli Captaincy Record in IPL The IPL captaincy of Dhoni has been simply outstanding. If we forget the last season, Dhoni-led CSK has played all the playoffs. CSK has won 5 IPL titles to date.
On the other end, Virat Kohli has failed to perform as a captain if we talk about IPL. His team has not managed to win even a single IPL trophy.
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All in all, we can conclude that Virat Kohli has been more successful as a batsman and Dhoni has brought glories to the Indian team in tests, ODI as well as T20.
