India No.1 Captain: Most successful skippers in Indian cricketing history
Every captain showed different characteristics.
Captaincy is a very difficult job to do in any sport, and more so in cricket, because the captain has to be a person who leads from the front, should have a great cricketing mind, should not be afraid of taking tough calls, and must possess the quality of keeping the team together in difficult situations.
Indian cricket has been blessed with some really good captains over the years who have given their all and led Indian cricket to greater heights. There have been different phases and eras in Indian cricket where different captains have had their teams and always tried to do everything for the welfare and growth of Indian cricket.
This piece will give you an insight into the top 5 most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket who have been the poster boys of Indian cricket for a lot of years.
Most Successful Captains in Indian Cricket history:
| RANK | CAPTAIN | PERIOD | MATCHES | WON | LOST | WIN % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virat Kohli | 2013-2022 | 213 | 135 | 60 | 63.38 |
| 2 | MS Dhoni | 2007-2018 | 332 | 178 | 120 | 53.61 |
| 3 | Sourav Ganguly | 1991-2005 | 195 | 195 | 97 | 49.74 |
| 4 | Rahul Dravid | 2000-2007 | 104 | 50 | 39 | 48.07 |
| 5 | Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 221 | 104 | 90 | 47.05 |
| 6 | Kapil Dev | 1982-1987 | 108 | 43 | 40 | 39.81 |
| 7 | Dilip Vengsarkar | 1987-1989 | 28 | 10 | 15 | 35.71 |
| 8 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 98 | 27 | 52 | 27.55 |
| 9 | Sunil Gavaskar | 1976-1985 | 84 | 23 | 29 | 27.38 |
| 10 | Nawab Pataudi | 19662-1975 | 40 | 9 | 19 | 22.50 |
1. Virat Kohli (63.38%)
Virat Kohli is the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket in terms of win percentage, even though he has not won an ICC trophy as a captain. He might not be the best captain in terms of impact in other formats, but there has not been a better test match captain than him in Indian cricket.
He has completely changed the face of the Indian Test team and made it a beast. He has led from the front, has never shied away from taking tough calls, and has had a fabulous impact on test cricket. As the experts say, Virat Kohli’s line, “No matter we win or lose, they should feel like hell out there for the next 60 overs,” will go down as one of the most impactful lines in cricketing history.
2. MS Dhoni (53.61%)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain cool, has won the most number of ICC trophies as a captain in Indian cricket. He has led the Indian cricket team to victories in the ICC T20I World Cup 2007, the ICC ODI World Cup 2011, and the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. He is only the second captain in Indian cricket to have a win percentage of over 50%.
3. Sourav Ganguly (49.74%)
Sourav Ganguly, popularly known as Dada, has also been one of the most influential captains in Indian cricket. In the era Ganguly captained, we started winning solitary matches outside India and the team was phenomenal at that time. It was Sourav Ganguly’s team that started the development and growth of Indian cricket and teams such as Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka started fearing the Indian cricket team.
4. Rahul Dravid (48.07%)
Rahul Dravid did not lead Indian cricket for a long time but the period in which he led was a really good period for Indian cricket. He was appointed the captain after Ganguly was sacked from captaincy due to some rifts between him and then Indian coach, Greg Chappell. In Dravid’s captaincy, Team India won a lot of test matches outside the sub-continent and played like a champion team.
5. Mohammad Azharuddin (47.05%)
Mohammad Azharuddin was appointed as the Indian captain when Indian cricket was still growing and India was not considered a strong team. He was a great batter as well as a great captain as India won 13 tests at home during his captaincy period.
Read More: Best Cricket Captain In the World
