Virat Kohli faces make or break challenge as India's captain at Asia Cup

Virat Kohli is India's man in form, but sadly the team is far from the best. MS Dhoni on Thursday was ruled out of India's upcoming Asia Cup quest as he suffered a side strain injury during the recent New Zealand tour.

The tour Down Under was a disaster for the visitors and the pain of loss seems to have affected the Indian captain rather to acutely. After failing to lead his team to a single win in New Zealand and suffering a 4-0 ODI loss and 1-0 Test series lost, Team India lead by MS Dhoni now hold a terrible overseas record.

The Asia Cup which is to be hosted by Bangladesh ahead of the World T20 next month sees five Asian nations vie for the title and commences on February 25. With Dhoni out, Kohli will have to step into the captain's seat and lead the team.

For a man in form, Kohli will need to manage his personal and team performance as he seeks to lead India to a win in his first major multi-team tournament as skipper. Dhoni will need rehabilitation for about 10 days and will be back as captain for India's World T20 quest starting March 16.

Asia Cup is vital for India who have dropped to No2 in the ODI team ranking and will also be a good exposure to the conditions in which the Twenty-20 World Cup will be played.

India start their Asia Cup campaign on February 26 in a clash with hosts Bangladesh.

Kohli seems like the best man to help the Indian team get back to winning ways as he has been 'Mr Consistent' both abroad as well as at home. The 25-year-old has a great chance to prove his worth with this challenge which he needs to step up to.

With Dhoni's overseas record as captain getting from bad to worse, Kohli leading India to the Asia Cup title could help him prove himself as a worthy successor to the wicket-keeper batsmen.