Captains who changed the face of cricket in India.
In India, cricket is the most popular game. The popularity level of cricket in India is increasing day by day. Here, people consider cricket as a religion, not as a game. In the last 60 years, India has produced many great cricketers and also registered many big victories, which increase the popularity level of this game.
This happened because of some great players and finest captains who took the Indian cricket to another level. In football, the coach plays a key role in the team’s success but in cricket, the captain is the most important person who leads his team into greater heights. In Test cricket, 33 players (24 in ODI, 6 in T20I) has represented India as captain but, very few cricketers got success as a captain.
Let’s have a look at the list of most successful Indian captains in Cricket
#1. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi: (1961-1975)
Nawab Pataudi has captained India in 40 Test matches. He was the first man, who revolutionised the Indian cricket. Pataudi made captain at the age of 21 against West Indies in 1961, when the sitting Nari Contractor was ruled out of the Fourth Test due to an injury.
Pataudi made a big change in cricketers mindset. Nawab Pataudi was the first man who said that “you are not playing for Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab, Maharastra, you are playing for the India”. He made India claim their first-ever victory on foreign soil, by defeating NewZealand 3-1 in 1967.
#2. Kapil Dev: (1982-1992)
Kapil Dev who is also known as the ‘Haryana Hurricane’. He took Indian cricket into greater heights. Kapil Dev was the first man, who led India to its first major victory in Cricket when the nation won its first World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev. This victory inspired many young kids who later became great cricketers like – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, etc.
His innings of 175* against Zimbabwe in 1983 World Cup changed the playing attitude of every player in the team. Kapil has captained India in 34 Test matches and 74 ODIs. Under his captaincy, India registered their first-ever Test series victory against England on their home soil. In ODIs, he won 39 matches for India as a captain with the win percentage of 54.16%.
#3. Sourav Ganguly: (1999-2005)
Sourav Ganguly has captained India in 49 Tests, 146 ODIs matches. He brings a habit of winning the matches against any opposition. Ganguly was the first man, who teach India how to win the matches in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries. Sourav Ganguly had the art of building a good team by using young talent. Under his captaincy, India defeated the best team of decade (Australia) in Tests by 2-1 in 2001. Two years later, India drew the Test series by 1-1 in Australia under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. In 2003 World Cup, he led India to the finals.
#4. MS Dhoni: (2007-2017)
After the shocking defeat in the 2007 World Cup, BCCI made Dhoni the captain for T-20 World Cup, 2007. India won that World Cup and from there the ‘Dhoni Era’ starts. Most of the experts and former cricketers believe that Dhoni is India’s best captain ever. Dhoni’s level of understanding the game or match situation is better than anyone else in the world. His biggest positive was his patience during the captaincy. He captained India for almost one decade.
Dhoni who came from a small town (Ranchi), inspired many young cricketers who live in small-town or villages and want to play cricket for India. MS Dhoni is an only captain in the world, who has won all three major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T-20 World Cup, Champions Trophy). During his captaincy tenure, India became the No.1 Test side (in 2009) for the first time in history. He has also won the two Asia Cups (2010, 2016) as a captain.
#5. Virat Kohli: (2014-present)
The young aggressive boy from Delhi became the regular captain of India in December 2014 when MS Dhoni left the Test cricket. In January 2017, Kohli became the regular captain in ODI and T20I also. Virat Kohli brings a winning attitude in his players. Kohli brings a hunger of winning every match, in his team. A few months ago, Kohli became the most successful Test captain for India by winning 28 Test matches (most by any player) as a captain.
The major change that came in the Indian cricket under Virat Kohli is the domination level in the world cricket. From the last three years, India is dominating the world cricket and this is because of some finest decisions by captain Virat Kohli. 1.) He changed the mindset of every player towards fitness by bringing yo-yo Test into the Indian cricket. 2.) He gave more preference to fast bowlers, which led India to their first Test series victory in Australia. These two major decisions by Virat Kohli made him a successful captain of the Indian cricket team.
