Indian states to have produced most number of ODI captains

Cricket is a sport that is revered all over India. The passion and the hysteria for the game know no bounds, but it is a well-known fact that some states have better infrastructure and administration, which in turn helps the states to produce more players who can go on to represent the country and even become leaders of the side.

Here are the Indian states that have produced the most ODI captains in India.

PS- Even stand-in skippers have been included in the list.

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#5 Punjab- Two ODI captains

The state of Punjab, which produced 3 Test captains, has given India two limited overs leaders in Bishan Singh Bedi and Mohinder Amarnath.

While Bedi took over the Test reins from Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, in ODIs, he succeeded Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan from Tamil Nadu. The maverick spinner captained India in four games, with India winning just one and losing the rest.

Amarnath, who was the eighth skipper to lead the side in the format, was the captain in just one game in 1984 but the game fetched no result.

#4 Tamil Nadu- Two ODI captains

Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan was the first captain from Tamil Nadu in ODIs and also the captain of the team in the 1975 and the 1979 editions of the World Cup. In 1975, India won only one World Cup game against East Africa and were unable to win any four years later.

All in all, Venkataraghavan led India in 7 ODI games in four years, with the triumph against East Africa being his only saving grace.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most aggressive opening batsmen that India has produced and he is most known for being the captain of the Indian side when Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut in Pakistan. He captained in the ODIs for 13 matches, winning just 4 and it was not long before the selectors dropped him from the side due to his poor form as a player.

#3 New Delhi- Three ODI captains

Even though New Delhi cannot technically be called a state, the city has given India some of its best players across both the formats, including two of the most destructive opening pairs in world cricket once upon a time – Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

While Sehwag would often step in to lead the team in the absence of the full-time skipper, Gambhir was appointed as the leader in the 5 ODI series against New Zealand in 2010. He has a win percentage of 100, in the six games that he has captained.

The other player from New Delhi is, of course, Virat Kohli, who has been setting the cricketing stage on fire, both with his batting and his bold moves as a leader. His ploy to include two wrist-spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the games in South Africa, despite much criticism, paid rich dividends and the Indian team won their first-ever bilateral series in South Africa.

#4 Karnataka- Four ODI captains

While Gundappa Viswanath captained India in just one ODI when Sunil Gavaskar was unavailable, Syed Kirmani from Karnataka too adorned the role as the captain in just one game. Both players lost their respective matches.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble, India’s spin wizard, most known for his leadership skills in India’s Test triumph at Perth, captained India in a one-off game in 2001. Unlike his predecessors, India won that game.

But, the most prolific leader was undoubtedly Rahul Dravid, whose stint as ODI captained remained embroiled in controversy. First, it was his involvement in the Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappell saga and then it was India’s dismal first-round exit in the 2007 World Cup. However, Dravid did make amends to an extent with a historic Test series win in England later that year, which was followed by a sensational ODI win in the 6th ODI at The Oval against the hosts.

All in all, he captained India in 79 games and won 42 of them, with a win percentage of 56.

#1 Maharashtra- Seven ODI captains

Maharashtra, over the years, has produced some of the finest players that have gone on to play for the national side.

Ajit Wadekar was the first captain of the Indian ODI team in 1974. Since then, the state has given six more ODI captains to the nation. Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar all led India for considerable periods of time, while Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma have been the stand-in skippers in three ODIs each.

Needless to say, Maharashtra’s contribution, in giving India both Test and ODI skippers has been tremendous.