5 Indian captains who won Player of the Series award in T20Is ft. Jasprit Bumrah
Among the several qualities a great captain must possess, the ability to lead from the front is a non-negotiable. In that sense, Team India have been fortunate to have some of the most accomplished cricketers lead their side to numerous glorious moments.
T20Is haven't always been kind to the Men in Blue, with the side struggling to capture a World Cup title since the inaugural 2007 edition. However, the Men in Blue have emerged victorious in plenty of bilateral series over the past 15 years, many of which saw their captain play a starring role.
The shortest format will be on a hiatus for the next few months, with the focus now shifting to the marquee 50-over tournaments - Asia Cup and World Cup. However, with the extravaganza of the IPL every year and the T20 World Cup less than a year away, the 20-over format will remain prominent among Indian fans.
Several Indian players have won the Player of the Series award in T20Is, namely Virat Kohli (7 times), Suryakumar Yadav (3 times), and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (3 times), yet it is extra special if the captain himself achieves the feat.
With that in mind, let us look at five Indian captains who have been the Player of the Series in T20Is (bilateral).
#1 Suresh Raina
How many would guess that Suresh Raina was the first Indian skipper to be Player of the Series award in T20Is? The left-handed batter captained the side in a two-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in 2010.
Following an impressive cameo of 28 in the first game, Raina stepped up to the party big time, scoring a magnificent 72* off 44 deliveries to steer India to a seven-wicket and 2-0 series victory.
With 100 runs at a strike rate of 163.93, the now-retired southpaw had an impressive series with the bat and as captain.
The 36-year-old scored over 1,600 runs in his T20I career at an average of 29.18 and was the first Indian cricketer to score a century in T20Is in the 2010 World Cup against South Africa.
#2 Virat Kohli
Perhaps the most obvious choice for an Indian captain to be the Player of the Series has to be Virat Kohli. The champion batter is also the only one on the list to have achieved this incredible feat multiple times (3).
Although all three of his Player of the Series hold tremendous value, the first was in a one-off T20I against Sri Lanka in 2017 and the second against a struggling West Indies side in 2019.
However, his latest award came in one of the most hard-fought T20I series in recent memory against arguably the strongest white-ball side, England, in 2021.
Kohli started the series with a duck in India's crushing opening-game defeat before scoring a match-winning 73* off 49 deliveries in the next game to steer the side to a seven-wicket win.
The 34-year-old played another breathtaking knock of 77 in the following game, but the hosts suffered defeat and went down 1-2 in the series. Fortunately for India, Kohli's failure in the fourth T20I was not costly as they leveled the series at two apiece.
In the series decider, a pumped-up Virat Kohli opened the batting and smashed his third half-century, scoring a sparkling 80* off 52 deliveries to propel India to a mammoth total of 224.
The Asian giants won the game by 36 runs and the series 3-2, with the skipper scoring 231 runs at a remarkable average of 115.50 and a strike rate of 147.13.
Apart from his three Player of the Series awards as skipper and seven overall, Kohli was also the Player of the Tournament in the 2014 T20 World Cup. He has scored over 4,000 runs in international T20s at a stunning average of 52.73, with a century and 37 half-centuries.
#3 Rohit Sharma
Another Indian skipper renowned for winning matches with his bat is none other than Rohit Sharma. The T20I series against New Zealand at home in 2021 was arguably when the batter was at his most consistent.
The 36-year-old began the series with a well-compiled 48 off 36 deliveries to help India win a tense game by five wickets and two balls to spare. He followed that up with a magnificent knock of 55 to help India pull off another stiff run-chase and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Rohit then finished the series with another half-century (56 off 31 balls) to help India complete the whitewash. He scored 159 runs in the three games at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 154.36, while manfully leading the side.
The destructive opener is the only batter with four T20I centuries and has scored over 3,800 runs in his 148 matches.
#4 Hardik Pandya
Following another disappointing T20 World Cup campaign in Australia last year, Team India looked to be headed in a different direction with the appointment of Hardik Pandya as captain. He led the Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in their maiden season in 2022.
The 29-year-old started his tenure with series wins in New Zealand and at home against Sri Lanka. However, Pandya's full potential as a captain and performer came to fruition in the home T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year.
Following a defeat in the opening game, the all-rounder chipped in with vital contributions with bat and ball in the second T20I (1/25 & 15*) to steer India to a tense victory.
However, In the series decider, Pandya well and truly came to the party, scoring a handy 17-ball 30 followed by a match-winning spell of 4/16 in his four overs to lead the Men in Blue to a trouncing 168-run victory.
He finished the series with 66 runs and five wickets in addition to his third consecutive series win as captain. Pandya has played 92 T20Is and boasts three half-centuries and four-wicket hauls each.
#5 Jasprit Bumrah
The most recent Indian captain to win the Player of the series in T20Is is ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The 29-year-old led a second-string Indian squad in the three-match series against Ireland, which India won 2-0.
Having not played for almost a year due to injury, Bumrah showed no signs of rust or lack of form as he picked two wickets in his first over upon return in the first T20.
The Gujarat-born pacer led from the front and finished with figures of 2/24 and 2/15, finishing as the joint-leading wicket-taker in the series.
Bumrah boasts incredible T20I numbers, with 74 wickets in 62 games at an extraordinary average of 19.66 and an economy rate of just 6.55 runs per over.