Cricket World Cup History: India’s World Cup Captains – Where are they now?

The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup is starting on May 30th with England taking on South Africa in London. The final will be played on 14th July at the prestigious Lord’s. Unlike the previous editions, this edition doesn’t feature any associate member at all. It is a 10-team tournament wherein each team gets to play the other nine teams once and the top four at the end of the group stage make it to the semi-finals.

The hosts and the Indian team have been picked as the top contenders to lift the trophy by the pundits. The Indian team has a decent record in this tournament with a 62.2-win percentage in eleven editions which includes two championship triumphs in 1983 and 2011. Apart from this, they were the runners-up in 2003 and have reached the last four on three occasions. The team has been led by some of the best players in the past.

Let us take a look at what they are doing now:

#1 Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan:

Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan

The Indian team was dominated by the quartet of spin bowlers who dominated every other side they played against. They were B Chandrashekar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.

Venkataraghavan was an off-spinner and was more than capable of playing the cameo down the order. His consistent performance got him to captain the Indian side in the 1975 and 1979 World Cup. Even though the team was eliminated in the group stage in both the editions, the team put up a good fight under his captaincy.

He retired from all forms of cricket in 1985 and was seen as an administrator in BCCI. In 1993, he started his second innings as an umpire officiating in 73 Test matches and 52 ODIs until his retirement in 2004. From then on, he is enjoying his retired life. No matter what, he will always be remembered as one of the best spin bowlers the country has ever produced.

#2 Kapil Dev:

Kapil Dev

It was not until 1983 that Indians believed that they could perform on a big stage. Following dismal performances in 1975 and 1979 World Cup, India entered the 1983 World Cup as underdogs. To everyone’s surprise, India finished second in the group stage winning four out of six matches. It was the game against Zimbabwe that gave them the confidence to go deep in the tournament. India were reeling at 17 for 5 when Kapil Dev came into the crease. What happened next is history.

He single-handedly thrashed the Zimbabwe bowlers scoring 175 off just 138 balls that got them the semis spot. With victories against England and West Indies in the semis and final respectively, India were crowned as the world champions for the first time. He also led the team in 1987 that reached the semi-finals.

After an illustrious career, he enjoyed various positions as a coach or a bowling consultant. Nowadays, he is seen as a cricket analyst and a commentator who gives deep insights into the game. Apart from this, he also runs different business enterprises.

#3 Mohammad Azharuddin:

Mohammad Azharuddin

After the decline of Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, Azharuddin took over the as the captain of the Indian team succeeding Srikkanth in 1989. He was a classic middle-order batsman who was known for his aggressive style of play even when the team was in trouble. This reflected in his captaincy as well. Having led the team in three World Cups (1992,1996 and 1999) and is the only Indian captain to do so, Mohammad Azharuddin failed to bring the prestigious trophy to India.

In 1992, the team got eliminated in the group stage with just 2 wins and 5 defeats. They entered the 1996 World Cup as the favourites. They lived up to the expectations of the fans as they made it to the last four but faced a humiliating defeat against Sri Lanka.

The dry run continued for India as they were again eliminated in the Super Six stage in 1999. Despite all success, his career came to a controversial end when he was given a lifetime ban in a match-fixing scandal. He had to wait until 2012 to get the decision overturned. Apart from his cricket life, he is a politician from the Indian National Congress holding the position of Working President of Telangana Congress.

#4 Sourav Ganguly:

Sourav Ganguly

If there was one opportunity to go back in time, I would definitely revisit India’s astonishing performance in the 2003 World Cup. In spite of so many exemplary performances, India failed to cross the line as they were defeated by the mighty Australians in the final. India came into the tournament after a successful run against England under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy. His approach to captaincy was completely different when compared to the former captains. The 2003 World Cup served as a platform to this. The team finished second in the pool stage and went on to win all the matches in Super Six stage. In the semis, Ganguly posted a century against Kenya that took India to the final after 20 years. However, India finished as the runner-up in the end. It was under his captaincy that India started winning Test series on foreign soil.

After retirement, he has occupied prestigious positions in the cricket board. Currently, he is the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal and the President of the Editorial Board with Wisden India.

#5 Rahul Dravid:

Rahul Dravid

India went to West Indies in 2007 to play the World Cup after success against Sri Lanka and West Indies at home. Everyone considered them to be the top contenders with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly in the batting line-up. The team also had world class spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. With all this favouring them, India failed to make it to the Super 8 with defeats against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This left a bad mark on Dravid’s captaincy. He quickly answered all his critics with a series win against England in England after 30 years. After successful stints as the skipper, he stepped down making way for Anil Kumble. After retiring from all forms of cricket in 2013, he was the mentor to Rajasthan Royals in IPL. As of now, he is the Overseas Batting Consultant for the Indian team and also the head coach for the U-19 and India ‘A’ teams.

#6 MS Dhoni:

MS Dhoni

The 2011 World Cup was hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Every fan in the country badly wanted to see his team to lift the trophy this time. MS Dhoni was unanimously picked as the captain because of his role in the team’s success. The team got off to a winning start against Bangladesh. They finished second in the group stage with the only defeat coming against South Africa in Nagpur.

In the quarterfinals, they faced the Australians and were able to end Australia’s dream run in the World Cup. They also won the semi-final against the arch-rivals Pakistan by 29 runs. The stage was set as India took on Sri Lanka in the final. Chasing 275, India were in deep trouble as they lost Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar very early.

Dhoni promoted himself up to the order and played the innings of his life. Building on the foundation laid by Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni finished things for India scoring 91 off just 77 balls. It took 28 years for India to win their second championship. In 2015, he failed to repeat the performance as India lost in the semis. He is still playing for the country and is expected to be around for at least two years before he bids goodbye. Nonetheless, Dhoni will go down as one of the greatest Indian captains.