Cricket World Cup History: India’s World Cup Captains – Where are they now?
The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup is starting on May 30th with England taking on South Africa in London. The final will be played on 14th July at the prestigious Lord’s. Unlike the previous editions, this edition doesn’t feature any associate member at all. It is a 10-team tournament wherein each team gets to play the other nine teams once and the top four at the end of the group stage make it to the semi-finals.
The hosts and the Indian team have been picked as the top contenders to lift the trophy by the pundits. The Indian team has a decent record in this tournament with a 62.2-win percentage in eleven editions which includes two championship triumphs in 1983 and 2011. Apart from this, they were the runners-up in 2003 and have reached the last four on three occasions. The team has been led by some of the best players in the past.
Let us take a look at what they are doing now:
#1 Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan:
The Indian team was dominated by the quartet of spin bowlers who dominated every other side they played against. They were B Chandrashekar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.
Venkataraghavan was an off-spinner and was more than capable of playing the cameo down the order. His consistent performance got him to captain the Indian side in the 1975 and 1979 World Cup. Even though the team was eliminated in the group stage in both the editions, the team put up a good fight under his captaincy.
He retired from all forms of cricket in 1985 and was seen as an administrator in BCCI. In 1993, he started his second innings as an umpire officiating in 73 Test matches and 52 ODIs until his retirement in 2004. From then on, he is enjoying his retired life. No matter what, he will always be remembered as one of the best spin bowlers the country has ever produced.