Top 5 Successful Indian Captains In Test Cricket

Top 5 Successful Indian Captains In Test Cricket; Over the years, the Indian National Cricket Team has grown from strength to strength by creating impressive track records. There are quite a few players, who sacrificed themselves to the game in order to bring glory to the country. The game of cricket mostly relies on the skipper of the team, who will marshall the troop to outsmart the opposition ideas.

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We came across numerous captains leading the team ever since the addition of India in the Test Cricket. However, there were only a few captains, who led the team in a successful manager when it comes to a longer version of the game. Here, we listed out 5 successful skippers of all time in Test cricket for Team India.

Top 5 Successful Indian Captains In Test Cricket:

5. Sunil Gavaskar:

Sunil Gavaskar is an Indian former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s the Indian national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any batsman.

‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar captained the Indian team on 47 occasions in the late ’70s and early 80s. Kapil Dev emerged as a leading pace bowler for the country during his captaincy. He led India to nine victories and eight losses, but most of the games (30) during his stint as skipper were drawn.

# Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi:

Both the great players stand at number 5 in the chart. The duo has secured the same number of wins as the skipper of the team. Apart from his captaincy, Pataudi is known for his heroic batting efforts and the grit and determination to play the game for his country.

Much like his personality, ‘Tiger’ Pataudi has a touch of class about his captaincy. ‘Tiger’ Pataudi was captain of the Indian cricket team in 40 of his 46 matches. The Indians could notch up 9 wins in his stint as a captain. However, his victories included India’s first-ever Test match win on overseas soil against New Zealand in 1968.

4. Mohammad Azharuddin:

Yet another legendary figure makes his name to the charts. He has been a sensational figure for the Indian team during his days and was on the headlines more often than not for obvious reasons.  As a captain of the team during the 90s, he had his fair share of ups and downs.

Azhar had an impressive captaincy record in sub-continent conditions. He captained the team with distinction in 49 test matches, out of which the Indian side won 14 matches. But, the stats were miserable when it comes to his track record away from the home. They even lost to Zimbabwe as well.

3. Sourav Ganguly:

Sourav Ganguly,  affectionately known as Dada (meaning elder brother) is a former Indian-Bengali cricketer and captain of the Indian national team.  Ganguly would be most remembered for instilling a competitive attitude in his players to take on the best in their own backyard.  India won 21 of the 49 Tests under ‘Dada’s’ captaincy. It is notable that 11 of those victories came on overseas soil.

He got the team containing talented and fearless players, who played every game with a never say die attitude. Under his captaincy, India arguably had the best core, with the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Kumble, Zaheer and Harbhajan, all in their prime.

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2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni:

An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket. Dhoni holds numerous captaincy records.

Calm and cool in his demeanour, MS Dhoni turned India into a strong fortress at home and made them the number one Test side in the world. He led India in 60 Tests with 27 wins and an impressive win percentage of 45 %.

1. Virat Kohli:

Virat Kohli has attained the great heights with his captaincy for the Indian National Cricket Team. He is as prolific as he is as a batsman. He brought the aggression back to the team thus bringing the best out of the team players. Further, he also made the Indian team be the fittest of all with new measures for the selection.

After 48 matches as a captain, he led the team successfully in 28 matches, which is the best stat for any Indian skipper over the years. He led Inda to win in down under, which is a major highlight of his captaincy so far in Tests away from home.

(All Stats Updated Till 3rd September, 2019)