5 Indian captains of the 21st century and their contributions to Indian cricket

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Captains are always remembered for their contributions to the game of cricket. Cricket captains are the ones who are responsible for getting the best out of every individual cricketer.

One always measures the success rate of the captain depending upon how the players managed to perform and evolve as a cricketer under a particular captain. Good captains share knowledge and their experiences with the team and transform the team into a well-oiled unit.

India has been a tad lucky and blessed to witness five great captains in the 21st century. Here is a take on 5 Indian captains of the 21st century and their contribution to Indian cricket.


#1 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly -The Prince of Bengal
Sourav Ganguly -The Prince of Bengal

The beginning of the 21st Century was a significant chapter in the rise of Indian cricket. Indian cricket was in complete disarray after the spot-fixing scandal that hit the team at the fag-end of the 20th century.

The sport had started to lose its charm and interest in India among its greatest worshippers –the cricket fans. It needed really something extraordinary and special effort to bring back the honesty and integrity to the game that had been questioned after the tainted allegations on the cricketers.

At this crucial juncture, Indian cricket witnessed the beginning of one of the most decorated and celebrated chapters of Indian cricket-“The Ganguly Era”. After the legendary Sachin Tendulkar stood down from captaincy during the turn of the century, Sourav Ganguly was appointed at the helm of affairs to lead Indian cricket.

Dada's captaincy tenure was the part of India’s golden era in the history of Indian cricket. He protected the interests of the game in tumultuous times.

Sourav Ganguly will always be remembered in the pages of Indian history as a captain who sowed the seeds to kick-start a new era in Indian cricket. His name will be long cherished for the fact that it was he who invested in shaping up a new young team that contained some of the future stars such as Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag etc.

Ganguly was an aggressive captain who backed his youngsters and gave them the freedom they required at the early stages of their career to perform according to the team requirements.

He was probably the first Indian captain who set the benchmark to be fearless and aggressive on the field. He had this dashing unique ability to get under the skin of the opposition players that landed him quite a few times in the match referee’s cabin for this attitude. Some of such instances of these can be recalled through acts like waving his shirt on Lord's balcony or making the Australian skipper Steve Waugh wait at the toss for a long time during the 2001 Border Gavaskar series. It definitely though proved to be beneficial to Indian cricket in the long-term interests of the team.

India’s first foreign coach, John Wright was also appointed during Ganguly’s regime. They both had a memorable partnership which saw India scale new heights. He also stressed on improving the fitness levels and fielding abilities of players.

Ganguly’s tenure as a captain also saw the beginning of Fab 5 in Indian cricket in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. It was through this strong collaboration that went on in history to register some of the most memorable wins for India.

Under his captaincy, India also started performing outside Asia and gave the oppositions a run for their money by competing in away Test series.

The Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2001 in India witnessed the start of Ganguly Era. Ganguly fought with the selectors for the inclusion of the young off-spinner “Turbanator” from Punjab for the series. He backed Harbhajan Singh to spearhead the spinning attack in absence of the lead spinner Anil Kumble and the youngster reposed this faith by running through the touring Australians and picked up 32 wickets in the 3 Match Test series which India won by a margin of 2-1.

The touring Australians were considered to be the best touring team in the world in those days and were on a 15 match win streak in Test cricket. India managed to put this streak to a halt in Kolkata with a win that is considered as India’s greatest Test win.

He made the opposition dance to his tunes through his captaincy performances and the numbers speak for themselves in this regard. During his captaincy tenure, India won 21 out of 49 Test matches, making Ganguly one of the most successful Indian Test captains.

He also led India to 11 overseas Test wins which are the most in Indian cricketing history. He also led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup where they were defeated by a strong Australian unit.

Ganguly will always be remembered as a captain for making careers of young players, leading the team to victory in many memorable away Test wins and changing the face of Indian cricket forever.

#2 Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid was made the skipper in 2005 in the aftermath of the Chappell-Ganguly spat that saw the end of Ganguly’s tenure as a skipper. The Dravid era in Indian cricket started from the year 2005 and ended in 2007.

Indian cricket needed a stabilizer after the Ganguly-Chappell controversy and it found the perfect man in the form of Rahul Dravid. His calm composure and textbook captaincy was an ideal one for the Indian team at that time.

Under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, India managed to record their first series win in the West Indies after 1971 which they won 1-0. India also registered their first ever Test win on South African soil in Johannesburg in 2006.

The biggest achievements of all these though was the 2007 Test series win on England soil. 2007 was a roller coaster year for the Indian fans. Having bowed out of the 2007 World Cup with a humiliating defeat to Bangladesh, India headed on to England for a 3 match Test series.

India had failed to win a series on English soil for 21 years at that time. Dravid’s bold captaincy saw India registering a series win by a margin of 1-0 seeking consolidation for the early World Cup exit.

Dravid’s tenure as a captain saw India having a composed methodical approach that led India to resounding wins. During his captaincy, the Indian cricket team also managed to break the record for most consecutive victories batting second in ODI cricket through a record 17 match run.

Rahul Dravid shall forever be remembered as a composed captain for taking Indian cricket forward and stabilizing Indian cricket in controversial times.

#3 Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble also was known as
Anil Kumble also was known as "Jumbo"

The sudden shocking announcement by the BCCI stating the resignation of Rahul Dravid saw Anil Kumble being appointed as the captain of the Test team. Though Kumble’s tenure was very short, it saw significant events taking place during his tenure and his handling of the same proved to be extremely beneficial for Indian cricket.

Anil Kumble was a stubborn captain who stood rock solid behind the team in crisis situations. He always put the team interests ahead of his individual goals. He was one of the most selfless and honest captains in Indian cricket.

His captaincy tenure started with a bang as he led India to a series victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in a 3 match Test series in India which India won 1-0. That was the last bilateral Test series that India and Pakistan have played till date.

One will always associate the name Anil Kumble for his mature handling of the situation during India‘s tour of Australia 2008. During the 4 match Test series, the first 2 matches were won by Australia and the third Test was won by the touring Indians.

It all came down to the wire in the second Test of the series at Sydney in 2008. The Sydney Test of 2008 is a Test India wish to forget from its cricketing chapters. The “Monkeygate” scandal rocked the Indian team during the tour and Anil Kumble, the captain, protected the Indian interest of the team by threatening to pull out midway from the tour due to the unacceptable allegations made by the opposition.

Kumble was particularly praised for his mature handling of the whole ugly incidents off the field that were taking place with cricket taking a backseat in the entire process.

Though he captained India for a very short period, India missed a genuine leader in the form of Anil Kumble in longer prospects but was blessed to witness whatever little it saw of Anil Kumble, the captain. He will always be remembered for this massive contribution to Indian cricket.

#4 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni with 2011 ICC World Cup Trophy
MS Dhoni with 2011 ICC World Cup Trophy

After India’s exit from the 2007 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar suggested MS Dhoni’s name to the selectors to be appointed as the skipper of the team. MS Dhoni captained the team in the inaugural 2007 World T20 Cup with a bunch of youngsters and under his shrewd captaincy, India won the World Cup. This was the beginning of the Dhoni era.

We often measure the success of the captain by measuring the growth of players under a captain. It was under Dhoni’s captaincy that the rise of players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, R Jadeja and countless players happened.

It was Dhoni’s decision to make a struggling Rohit Sharma open the batting that gave him a new lease of life. He always backed his youngsters even in come what may not situations. He always stressed the importance of fielding and it was under his tenure that India managed to become a formidable fielding unit.

Dhoni put an end to the senior-junior culture in the Indian dressing room. He was credited for effective man management for handling seniors like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Ganguly, Sehwag etc and inducting fresh blood in the form of youngsters in the team and backing them to perform to their full potential.

He ensured a successful transition of the team that witnessed retirements of the seniors and young players making their debut under his captaincy. Dhoni brought the best out of every player.

With his ice-cool attitude and ability to remain calm under pressure, Dhoni finished countless games for India with the bat. The best example of this will be the six at Wankhede stadium in the 2011 World Cup Final.

Dhoni has always played the game in its true spirits and is well remembered for his sportsmanship. Recalling Ian Bell after he was controversially run out showed the sportsman spirit of the Captain Cool.

He is India’s best captain by a county mile. He had a golden run as the skipper of the team that saw India topping the Test rankings under his leadership. India was always a dominating side at home under his tenure.

He led India to victory in 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy- the only skipper to taste victories at all the three events. Dhoni is India’s most successful Indian Test captain with a record of 27 test wins.

Indian cricket will rarely get to witness another captain like MS Dhoni.

#5 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

The current skipper of the Indian team in all the formats of the game-Virat Kohli took over the captaincy in all the formats from the reign from MS Dhoni when he decided to step down from captaincy during early 2017.

Kohli had a fruitful start to his Test captaincy career when his team toured Sri Lanka in 2015 and won the series 2-1 in the 3 match Test series by recording a come-from-behind series win after losing the first Test.

India, till date, has won every Test series played at home under Kohli’s captaincy. India has become a formidable side at home under Virat’s captaincy. One thing that still eludes Kohli is Test series win in SENA (South Africa, England, South Africa, and Australia) countries and an ICC Trophy.

Under Kohli's captaincy, India managed to reach the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy where they were defeated by a spirited performance by Pakistan.

Virat Kohli, similar to MS Dhoni, has always stressed on the high fitness levels and fielding skills and he walks the talk with his own skills. Under his tenure, India made Yo-Yo fitness test compulsory as a selection criterion into the squad thereby setting a new fitness benchmark for the team. India’s fielding under his tenure has grown in leap and bounds and the skipper shows the way in the same.

Kohli‘s captaincy style is a stark contrast to that of Dhoni’s. Virat Kohli, the skipper is an aggressive and outspoken captain, unlike MS Dhoni’s cool personality. Despite being poles apart, they both have formed an amicable partnership that has further directed Indian cricket forward.

Kohli has been guilty of constant chopping and changing of the team and his selections are based taking into account the nature of the pitch and the conditions. However, his style of captaincy has yielded results for him till date.

Recently, he became the first Asian captain to win a Test in South Africa, England and Australia. He still is in his early years as a captain and one should expect him to help India reach new heights in cricket under his captaincy.

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Edited by Kumud Ranjan