India new Test captain: Rohit Sharma has been appointed as India’s full-time Test captain as he was named as the skipper ahead of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka that begins on 4th March at Mohali. Rohit Sharma takes over the mantle from Virat Kohli, who resigned from captaincy after India lost their Test series against South Africa last month. Follow IND vs SL Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Rohit Sharma now becomes India’s 35th Test captain. InsideSport takes a detailed look at some of the successful captains who have led the team in the longest format of the game so far.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named @ImRo45 as #TeamIndia‘s Test Captain. pic.twitter.com/GaIUZDthtf
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 19, 2022
CK Nayudu
25th June 1932. This date will always be remembered as that was the day when India became an official Test-playing nation. Even though the country was still under British rule, team India travelled to England and played their first-ever Test match at Lord’s. CK Nayudu was appointed as India’s Test captain and he was among the better performers for India on the day. He would sustain a hand injury while on the field during the Test match. Despite that, he scored 40 runs. However, India lost that Test match. CK Nayudu continued to lead India in 3 more Test matches.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Lala Amarnath
Lala Amarnath, who was India’s first-ever Test centurion became India’s first captain after the country gained Independence. It was under his leadership that India won its first ever Test series against the Pakistan cricket team in Delhi in 1952. India also went on to win the series 2-1, registering their first-ever Test series victory. This was however Lala’s last Test series as skipper. India has played 15 Tests under his leadership.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Vijay Hazare
Vijay Hazare was regarded as one of the best batsmen in his era. While he entered Test cricket late due to the outbreak of World War II, he did finish with an impressive record. He played 30 Tests between 1946 and 1953. He has scored 2192 runs at an average of 47.65, which includes 7 hundred and 9 fifties with a best of 164. It was under Hazare in 1952, that India won its first-ever away Test match as the team beat England. He lead India in 14 Test matches but this was the only victory in his tenure.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, affectionately called Tiger, became India’s youngest skipper while they were touring West Indies in 1962. He was just 21 and leading the side on foreign soil. A fluent batsman, Tiger was also an amazing fielder and could run fast across the field to stop the ball. He played a total of 46 Test matches and captained India in 40 of those. He was the first captain to lead India in more than 15 Test matches. His reign extended for 14 years between 1961 and 1975 in which India won 9 Test matches, that includes the country’s first-ever series victory in New Zealand.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Ajith Wadekar
In 1971, Wadekar was appointed the captain of national cricket team after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi opted out of the West Indies tour. He led a team of youngsters that comprised names like Sunil Gavaskar, E A S Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and S Venkataraghavan. He led India in 16 Test matches and was one of the most succesful captains as India won their first Test match in West Indies under him. India also went on to win their first-ever Test series in England under his leadership.
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly was the first Indian Test captain under who led India to victory in more than 20 Test matches. Ganguly was appointed as India’s captain during difficult times when the team was marred with match-fixing controversy. He changed the way India played its Test cricket and has proved himself the best Indian Captain statistically. Playing outside India, the team has won out of 11 out of 28 Test matches. He also ended the mighty Australians series victory in 2001 by defeating them in India in a series that will be remembered for ages.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid was appointed as India’s Test skipper after India faced a turmoil with the fallout between coach Greg Chappel and Sourav Ganguly. Dravid took the position of leader and rebuilt the team. After taking over as India’s full-time captain, Dravid captained the team in 20 Tests. In that period, India had series wins in West Indies, Bangladesh and, most memorably, England. Under him youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Irfan Pathan also stepped up.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
MS Dhoni
Dhoni took over the Test team after the retirement of Anil Kumble in 2008 and under him the team scaled new heights. He was India’s most successful captain in terms of wins since then, as he won series against England, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies from 2008 to 2013. He became the first Indian captain to take the country to the top position in ICC Test rankings in 2009 for the first time and he achieved that in just one year of taking over.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli became India’s most successful Test captain as the team thrived under him especially in overseas conditions. He is the only Indian captain to have a win percentage of more than 50%. Taking over the mantle from Dhoni in 2014, under Kohli India has never lost a home Test series. He was the first Indian captain to lead the team to a Test series victory in Australia. He led Indian in 68 Test matches, where the team won 40 matches.
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Full List of India’s Test captains
| No | Captain | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | Winning % |
| 1 | CK Nayudu | 1932-1934 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Vizianagram | 1936-1936 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Nawab of Pataudi | 1946-1946 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | L Amarnath | 1947-1952 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13.33 |
| 5 | VS Hazare | 1951-1953 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 7.14 |
| 6 | MH Mankad | 1955-1959 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Ghulam Ahmed | 1955-1959 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | PR Umrigar | 1955-1958 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 25 |
| 9 | HR Adhikari | 1959-1959 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | DK Gaekwad | 1959-1959 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | P Roy | 1959-1959 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GS Ramchand | 1959-1960 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 13 | NJ Contractor | 1960-1962 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 16.66 |
| 14 | Nawab of Pataudi | 1962-1975 | 40 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 22.5 |
| 15 | CG Borde | 1967-1967 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | AL Wadekar | 1971-1974 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 25 |
| 17 | S Venkataraghavan | 1974-1979 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | SM Gavaskar | 1976-1985 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 19.14 |
| 19 | BS Bedi | 1976-1978 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 27.27 |
| 20 | GR Viswanath | 1980-1980 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | N Kapil Dev | 1983-1987 | 34 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 11.76 |
| 22 | DB Vengsarkar | 1987-1989 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| 23 | RJ Shastri | 1988-1988 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| 24 | K Srikkanth | 1989-1989 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | M Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 47 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 19 | 29.78 |
| 26 | SR Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 25 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 16 |
| 27 | SC Ganguly | 2000-2005 | 49 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 42.85 |
| 28 | R Dravid | 2003-2007 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 32 |
| 29 | V Sehwag | 2005-2012 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50 |
| 30 | A Kumble | 2007-2008 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 21.42 |
| 31 | MS Dhoni | 2008-2014 | 60 | 27 | 18 | 0 | 15 | 45 |
| 32 | V Kohli | 2014-2022 | 68 | 40 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 58.82 |
| 33 | AM Rahane | 2017-2021 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 66.66 |
| 34 | KL Rahul | 2022-2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
India new Test captain: ‘HITMAN’ Rohit Sharma named India’s 35th Test captain, check full list of India Test captains
Editors pick
