In the game of Cricket, the Captain plays a key role behind its team’s success. A captain is called Successful Captain, only if he had guided his team to success. There are few Captains in Indian cricket history who were called as Successful Captains.

Here is the list of Top five Most Successful Indian Captains in Cricket History:

5. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi:

He lost an eye in a car crash, but even that did not stop Pataudi from fulfilling his dream of playing in the Indian team. He managed to score an average of 34 even after losing an eye, which showed his courage and determination. Until the accident happened, Pataudi looked like breaking all records for scoring 1216 runs at an average of 55.

He was the youngest Test captain at the time he took, aged 21 years and 77 days. He was a great batsman and a person with inspiration leadership qualities. He was known by the famous nickname ‘Tiger’. His decided to concentrate on spin when he recognized that India did not possess fast bowling resources. Tiger thus gave the world the famous spin trio like Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar. He finished with captaining over 40 tests and made India claim their first victory on foreign soil, by defeating New Zealand 3-1.

4. Kapil Dev:

The man who led India to its first ever World Cup in 1983, debut came only during the 1982-83 season which is an extraordinary fact speaking about the greatness of Kapil Dev. He started out when the mighty West Indies ruled the world, and Kapil Dev and his team managed to win a match in his first ODI series as a captain. Kapil Dev hadn’t yet made such a mark in the international arena. In fact, India found it going tough in the 1983 tournament. But it was young Kapil Dev who emerged as the true saviour.

In a must win game versus Zimbabwe, Kapil Dev put on 126 runs for the 9th wicket, scoring a century and creating a record that stand for 27 years from then. As a captain, Kapil Dev played better than he did as a player, and even when he was reappointed as captain in March 1985 the trend continued as he led the team from the front. Leading India to a series win over England was an extraordinary achievement in Indian cricket in that time, which was made possible by Kapil Dev in the 1986 series.

3. Mohammad Azharuddin :

The man who displayed his skills not only through his bat but also with his leadership was Mohammad Azharuddin, whose contributions as Indian captain were remarkable. He had a fluid batting style which was in some ways similar to that of English great David Gower. Azharuddin was a great fielder too, a wonderful batsman and his captaincy was one of the best.  Azhar could single-highhandedly turn the fortunes of a game and was a constant nightmare to the bowlers who faced him. His skills and art work in batting were much talked about. In fact, Azharuddin has to his credit, 103 wins as captain and one of the best success rates.

Unfortunately though, right at the peak of his career, out came the allegations of match fixing and it led to the downfall of a giant who was once respected both on and off the field ms dhoni movie dialogue

2. Sourav Ganguly:

He was the man who brought the unity Indian team. He spotted out precious new talents, some of them who have turned into match winners today. He displayed extreme phases of emotions and the calmness. While in joy he took off his shirt and waving after India won the final match in Natwest series in 2003 versus England in a thrilling finish at Lord’s. He took too much pressure and faced batting troubles as short deliveries were his biggest problem.

 But, Ganguly’s never-say-die approach and the ability to in still confidence in the Indian team that they can perform overseas too; the credit of achieving all that goes to this man. He still remains one of the most respected captains of the Indian team. True, Ganguly’s only major success was making India reach the finals of the 2003 ICC World Cup and the Asia Cup and also drawing a series against Australia Down Under. But the fact remains that he is one of the best men to have ever captained India.

 1. MS Dhoni:

Dhoni could be surely called as the India’s most and best Successful captain looking at the way he brought triumphs. The Indian team, under the leadership of Dhoni, won the inaugural 2007 World T20 which was held in South Africa. Dhoni became the test captain; in his very first series he won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In fact, under him India rose to the No. 1 position in the ICC test rankings.

The calmness and coolness qualities, which took Dhoni to heights never imagined in Indian Cricket. India even won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup breaking the long standing barren run since 1983, with the captain leading from the front by scoring a match-winning knock of unbeaten 91 in the final versus Sri Lanka. Even Tendulkar praised Dhoni, stating that he was the best captain he had ever played under.    ms dhoni dialogues

Sampath Bandarupalli

Cricket Statistician and Journalist. Love to churn out facts and stats. Member of the Society of Cricket Statisticians of India (SCSI).

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