To be a part of the Indian team and represent the country is a dream of many Indians. Millions aspire to find a place in international cricket but very few can achieve it.
With competition so fierce in the country, one could easily be replaced or overlooked. For the captain, the pressure and responsibility is much higher. In a cricket-crazy nation such as India, all the blame for a loss rests on the captain’s shoulders. Therefore, not many individuals opt for captaincy since it could affect their performance as a player.
Over the years, many individuals have led India in ODIs as permanent captains or stand-in captains. We look at the list of captains and when they got the position.
Anil Kumble
Kumble was a legend of Indian cricket. He is the third-highest wicket taken in tests. After 217 ODIs that he played for the country, Kumble captained India for one solitary match against England and successfully won the match by 4 wickets.
Rohit Sharma
Sharma got a chance to captain India in ODIs for the first time after having 171 caps for India. He has captained India in 10 ODIs up until now and managed to successfully win 8 of them and thus with a splendid strike-rate of 80% wins. He often leads India in the absence of the full-time captain, Kohli.
Shikhar Dhawan
Dhawan made his captaincy debut last week on India’s tour to Sri Lanka. He is leading India for a full white ball series. He has played 142 games for ODI before getting the captaincy job and in the two ODIs played till now in the series, both have been won by India.
Rahul Dravid
The current India coach for the Sri Lanka tour was once the Indian captain. He led India in 79 ODIs and became the captain after having played 138 matches for India. He won 42 of the matches he captained India in. his captaincy duties came to halt after India’s premature exit from the 2007 World Cup.
Ajay Jadeja
One of the lesser-known captains for India has been Ajay Jadeja who captained India for 13 ODIs when Tendulkar gave up his captaincy. He had played 129 games for India till then and out of the 13 games, he won 8 of them. He was succeeded by Ganguly as the captain.
Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar captained India for three years during 1996-99. He was not regular during this period but captained as and when called upon to do so. He captained India after 119 ODIs he played for India. Over the course of his career, he was captain 73 times but managed to win just 23 of them.
Sourav Ganguly
One of India’s most renowned captains, Ganguly is to be credited with India’s rise as an ODI power. His aggressive game play inspired generations to come. He was 111 ODIs old when he was handed over the captaincy duties and led India for 146 matches. He won 76 matches as captain with the 2003 World Cup finals as the highlight of his career.
K Srikkanth
Just as in the case of Ganguly, Srikkanth also became a captain after 111 ODIs albeit only for 13 ODIs. He was a stand-in captain before Azharuddin took full-rime responsibility. He captained India for 13 ODIs and won 4 out of them.
Virat Kohli
India’s current ODI captain and the best batsman in the world became a captain after 104 ODIs. He was given the responsibility after Dhoni stepped down from his position. Off the 95 matches that Kohli has captained India till now. He has won 65 of them and has a spectacular 70% win record.
Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir was also a stand-in captain for some time in the middle. He got this responsibility after playing 100 ODIs and captained India for 6 ODIs. Incidentally, he won all of the matches he captained India in.
