Top Five Successful India Cricket Team Captains

A captain or a leader is successful only when its team members are praised equally as him. Taking instant but smart decisions and taking everyone together even in the worse of the conditions is what makes a leader a true captain of its team.

Here are my top five choices of the most successful captains: -

5. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

Being the youngest cricketer to be the test captain at the age of 21 years, he managed to handle the responsibility of leading the whole team with his leadership qualities and undereating determination.

Eventhough an accident took vision from one of his eye, he was foused on his dream to play in the indian cricket team. He was crushing the old records and creating new ones by his bat as he scored 1216 runs at an average of 55.

Due to his great sportsmanship and style to take any problem with ultimate courage, he was given a nickname ‘Tiger’/‘Sher’ (in hindi). The Indian team didn’t have fast bowlers in that time so Pataudi stressed on spinning the ball and thus giving us the famous trio of spinners like Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandreshekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi.

He was the captain when India won the first foreign test match series defeating New Zealand by 3-1.

4. Kapil Dev

One of the most celebrated captain of all time Kapil Dev is the one who makes this list a bit more joyous to read. The man who brought the first ever world cup to the country with an amazing performance in the 1983 world cup is still praised and remembered.

During the time when West Indies ruled it all he and all the other cricketers with their extraordinary performance brought what the game needed, its excellence remark.

With six year of leadership on hand he came out a better player being the captain. Kapil dev made 126 runs for the ninth wicket, creating a record which stands for more than 28 years now.

3. Mohammad Azharuddin

Known for his excellent batting skills Mohammad Azharuddin was one of the most remarkable Indian captain. Being a captain he not only batted well but had the grasp on field too.

He kept the bowlers in a constant stir due to his well imaginative batting skills. He has one of the best success rates with 103 win under his capaintancy.

What came with a hurricane to his emerging career was the allegation of match fixing which lead to the down fall of the upcoming sports star. This lead to decline of his throne as a captain, as the allegation ate away his value to the game.

2. Sourav Ganguly

Affectionately called as “Dada”, he is currently appointed as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal. He was the leading batsman of his time and was also nicknamed as “god of the off side” because of his swift deliveries in the off side.

Keeping the team in the correct form eventhough he took much pressure and couldn’t trick short length deliveries, made him more proffessional cricketer.

His major high points were making India reach the finals of the 2003 ICCWorld Cup and the Asia Cup. He still standsout as one of the great Indian captain.

1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni

“Mahi” as his name being kept by the crowd, he is one of the most successful and loved batsman, keeper and captain of all time. Known for his tactics and decision making skills, he has emerged as a calm but a game changer winner captain. He tackels pressure with utmost free mind and relaxed manner thus emerging victorious in his matches.

He brought home the 2007 World T20 Cup which was held in South Africa. Under his leadership india also came up to the No. 1 Ranking in the ICC test ranking. In his first series too he won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy .

Eyes didn’t blink until the last second where team India won the 2011 ICC World Cup breaking the long time stretch from 1983 t0 2011. Sachin Tendulkar praised him by saying “he is the best captain he has played under”.