5 Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces

Aug 24, 2020 at 1:28 PM

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5 Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces

Serving for the country is always special for anyone. That’s why the Indian cricketers and other international cricketers always get huge respect from their fans.

Due to their great contributions to the country, some Indian cricketers have earned the honorary rank from the Indian armed forces. A few of them also served for the Indian armed forces.

Here we are talking about the top five Indian cricketers who earned the honorary rank from the Indian armed forces

C. K. Nayudu – Colonel

CK Nayudu, Indian cricketer, honorary, Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
Ck Nayudu (Image Courtesy: Twitter)

C. K. Nayudu or Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu was the first Indian Test captain as he led the Indian team in their first-ever Test match, which was against the hosts England at Lord’s in June 1932. While he played seven Tests for India till August 1936, he led the national team in his first four Tests.

During his Test career, the right-handed batsman Nayudu scored 350 runs (average 25.00), including two half-centuries. As an off-spinner, he also took nine wickets in Test career.

In his first-class career, Nayudu played 207 first-class matches, where he scored 11825 runs and also took 411 wickets.

Even before his international debut, Nayudu was honoured with Colonel in Holkar’s Army in 1923.

Hemu Adhikari – Lieutenant Colonel

Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer, honorary, Army, Lieutenant Colonel, Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
Hemu Adhikari (Image Credit: Twitter)

The right-handed batsman Hemu Adhikari served for the Indian national cricket team from 1947 to 1959, where he played 21 Tests. In his Test career, Adhikari scored 872 runs (average 31.14), including one century and four half-centuries, and also took three wickets as a leg-spinner. He was also a very good fielder at that time. In his last Test, Adhikari led the Indian team for the only time (against West Indies at Delhi in February 1959) which ended with a draw result.

Later, Adhikari also played the manager role of the Indian team. In 1971, he inspired the team to win their first away Test against England (at The Oval in August 1971). He reportedly groomed the highly successful Indian cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Mohinder Amarnath, Syed Kirmani etc.

During World War II, Adhikari served for the Indian Army. He ended the military career as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Kapil Dev – Lieutenant Colonel

Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer, honorary, Army, Lieutenant Colonel, Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
Kapil Dev (Image Credit: Twitter)

 

 

Apart from being as one of the greatest all-rounders in international cricket history, Kapil Dev was also one of the greatest captains in international cricket history. Under his captaincy, India achieved many great successes in international cricket, including winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

From 1978 to 1994, Kapil played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs. The right-handed aggressive batsman scored 5248 Test runs (average 31.05) and 3783 ODI runs (average 23.79). In his international career, Kapil hit nine centuries and 41 half-centuries. Moreover, as a right-arm pacer, Kapil also managed to claim 434 Test wickets and 253 ODI wickets. During his retirement from the game, he was the most Test wicket-taker.

Later, between October 1999 and August 2000, Kapil coached the Indian team.

In September 2008, Kapil joined the Indian Territorial Army as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel.

Sachin Tendulkar – Group Captain

Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer, honorary, Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
Sachin Tendulkar (Image Credit: AP Photo)

Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was one of the greatest international cricketers. He successfully served for the Indian national cricket team for 24 years (1989-2013) where he played the record number of international matches (664 matches – 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and only T20I).

During his international career, the right-handed batsman scored 15921 Test runs (average 53.78), 18426 ODI runs (average 44.83) and 1o T20I runs (average 10.00) – the record international run-scorer along with the record Test and ODI run-scorer. He is also the only batsman to hit 100 centuries in international cricket (51 Test centuries and 49 ODI centuries).

Also, as a right-arm bowler, Tendulkar was hugely effective as he managed to pick up a total of 201 international wickets – 46 Test wickets, 154 ODI wickets and only T20I wickets.

Tendulkar also led the Indian team in 98 international matches between 1996 and 2000, but it wasn’t much successful tenure for him. Otherwise, he played a huge role in India’s success in international cricket, including winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 under MS Dhoni’s leadership.

In 2010, Tendulkar was honoured with the Indian Air Force’s honorary rank of Group Captain for his great achievement in cricket and contribution to the nation.

MS Dhoni – Lieutenant Colonel

MS Dhoni, Indian cricketer, honorary, Army, Lieutenant Colonel, Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
MS Dhoni (Photo Credit: Twitter)

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni is also one of the greatest cricketers in international history. He is famous for multiple successful roles – as a great batsman along with incredible finishing skills, as a smart and effective wicket-keeper, a cool and calm captain etc.

Dhoni has served for the Indian team from 2004 to 2019, where he played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is. The wicket-keeper batsman has scored 4876 Test runs (average 38.09), 10773 ODI runs (average 50.57) and 1617 T20I runs (average 37.60). Apart from registering 829 dismissals in the international career (634 catches and 195 stumpings) as a wicketkeeper, Dhoni has also taken one ODI wicket. He hasn’t played a recognised cricket match since the semi-final defeat against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 (10th July 2019).

Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won the ICC World T20 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and many more reputed trophies. He is the first captain to win three different ICC trophies.

In 2011, Dhoni was conferred with the honorary rank Lieutenant Colonel by the Indian Territorial Army for his contribution in the game. After the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Dhoni served for the Territorial Army in Jammu and Kashmir for two weeks in August 2019.

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5 Indian Cricketers Who Earned The Honorary Rank From The Indian Armed Forces
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