Five players you did not know captained India
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When talking about Indian captains our minds almost wander straight towards Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Gavaskar, and Ganguly, but there are more people who have captained India that we are not aware of. In this article, we are going to present those players who you did not know captained India.
India’s debut in the Test arena came against England in 1932 when CK Nayudu walked the first Indian team out to the field. While it was not the ideal start for India, the loss changed the way India would see cricket in the future, with so much more emphasis on the game. However, one thing that has changed heavily since the debut, it is that there no more Maharajas in the team, giving the captaincy to normal people. Historically, there are a few Indian captains - who changed the way the country played cricket.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is one of India’s most revered captain in the past, with him taking the field 40 times as India’s skipper. While success was still not a thing, Pataudi’s team only managed to win nine games out of 40, with 19 loss and 12 draws, which in modern-day is a bad statistics. While modern-day skipper, Virat Kohli has as many as 33 wins in 55 games, with only 12 losses which looks daunting from way back in the 1970s. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni all have since taken the mantle to the next level. But, in the middle of all of this, did you know that there were some captains that no one knew?
Srinivas Venkataraghavan
Despite playing nearly 57 Test matches in the Indian colours, it is very often ignored for a fact that the legendary off-spinner was once India’s captain. However, his reign was short, with only five Test matches as India’s top-guy. During that time, India were on the wrong side of things losing one and drawing three.
Despite the 156 wickets that he took during his career, his captaincy was never given the prominence, because of the prevailing presence of Sunil Gavaskar in the playing XI. Under the off-spinner, India hosted the tough side in West Indies in 1974-75 before his second stint as India’s skipper later in 1979. In 1979, he skippered the Indian team that toured England. So, given that India played two of the best sides in the world, the result does not look too bad for a makeshift captain.
Gundappa Viswanath
While everyone knows the presence of Gundappa Viswanath, not many know that the Karnataka batsman was an Indian skipper. It was just two Tests but it will always be remembered for the way he sent Bob Taylor back to the dressing room. In the times where there was no DRS or even the presence of a third-umpire, Viswanath was involved in sending the English batsmen back home.
After Taylor had knicked one to the keeper, he did not walk off despite the umpire giving him out. However, after Viswanath had a word with the English batsman, he was back walking, which was miraculous during that period. During this time, he was also one of India’s most feared batsmen, alongside the Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar. The duo helped India to many victories, including some tense finishes.
Ravi Shastri
Oh, that went like a tracer bullet, so did Ravi Shastri’s time as India’s captain. Despite being one of the best all-rounders in the world, Shastri could not keep the captaincy to his own, with only one Test as India’s skipper. It came against the mighty West Indian side at home when India’s skipper Dilip Vengsarkar was out of the fourth Test against Viv Richard’s West Indian team.
The Test played in Chennai resulted in a massive victory for the home side. However, Shastri did not have a major impact in the Test match, scoring 23 and 20 in both the innings. Meanwhile, with the ball, he picked up one wicket while Narendra Hirwani picked up 16 wickets in the game. However, that was his first and last game as India’s skipper in the Test format.
Ajay Jadeja
This will come in as a surprise to Indian fans - to know that Ajay Jadeja was once upon a time India’s captain in the limited-overs format. The now 49-year-old commentator and analyst has captained India 13 times, where they won eight games, with five losses. However, he was never made a full-fledged skipper but was helm for his knowledge on the game. With a winning percentage of 61.53, his time as captain was not a bad time for India.
It was in the four-nation tournament in Nairobi where he was made the skipper in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar. Sourav Ganguly, who would go on to become India’s captain a few years later was the vice-captain under Jadeja. During 1999, he was one amongst the others in line to lead the team. If his captaincy was a failure, it was given that Sachin would come back at the helm. However, to all the contrary reports, it was Sourav Ganguly who took over from Jadeja in 1999.
Vinoo Mankad
Most famously or infamously known for ‘Mankading,’ Vinoo Mankad was India’s captain in six Test matches. While he was captain, India failed to win any of those Tests, including five straight draws against Pakistan before the loss against West Indies. However, it too came in two batches, just like Venkataraghavan. After Vijay Hazare, he was appointed India’s skipper in the away series against Pakistan. As said already, the results were not in his favour. In between Mankad’s two captaincy tenures, India had at least three skippers before going back to Mankad.
This is the darkest days in the history of Indian captaincy. Ghulam Ahmed captained in two games, Polly Umrigar one, Hemu Adhikari one while Mankad managed to get hold of captaincy for one game. India’s lacklustre time under the captains continued as Mankad managed five draws and fell short of one in one game against West Indies.
