Rating the Indian captains since 2000
In cricket, unlike other sports, the captain plays a huge role. He is responsible for taking almost all the decisions both on and off the pitch. He is the one who orchestrates a win and also the one who takes the fall for defeats.
Over the years, the India team has been captained by some of the best players. Some of them turned out to be great leaders, others, not so much. Here, we have rated all the captains who have donned the role for the Indian team since 2000.
Note: We have only taken into consideration the full-time captains in all formats and not the stand-in captains
Sourav Ganguly (2000-2006) – 8.5/10
In the 90s, India, shamed by match-fixing scandals and poor performances overseas, were in shambles. At the turn of the millennium, a young Sourav Ganguly was handed the captaincy, and the rest, as they say, is history.
One of the first things he did as a captain was to make the entire team bond in the dressing room, something that later proved to be one of the pillars of his success. And yet, his biggest drawback was, perhaps, his temperament. He would display extreme emotion – he took off his shirt once and whirled it over his head after a precious victory – but that never deterred him from giving his best for the country.
As many pointed out, Ganguly was instrumental in giving several precious young talents a chance at the top level, most of whom turned out to be match-winners. It was his ability to instil confidence in the players that made him one of the most respected captains ever.
He made Team India a force to reckon with, in, as well as outside, the sub-continent. He took on the mighty Aussies and tamed them, he led India to the 2003 World Cup final – in the context of Indian cricket, his contributions were phenomenal.
| Summary | Matches | Wins | Losses | Drawn/No result | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 49 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 42.6 |
| ODI | 147 | 76 | 66 | 5 | 51.7 |