India is one of the three countries to win multiple World Cups. Needless to say, the Men in Blue is one of the successful outfits in ODI history. This has been possible because India has produced a lot of quality players, who have contributed to the success.
Every good team needs a proper leader to became great and India has been lucky in this regard. The selectors gave a chance to some talented cricketers very early in their career. While some were successful and built a legacy, others could not become great leaders. Let us look at the youngest captains to lead India in ODIs
5. Virat Kohli – 24 Years and 239 Days
While MS Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team for the tri-series in 2013, Virat Kohli got an opportunity to lead team India after Dhoni got injured. This was a sign of things to time as Virat Kohli permanently took over as Indian captain in 2017.
When Kohli took over, there were doubts if he could be as good as Dhoni. The Indian captain has shut up his haters by winnings 62 out of 89 matches as captain. While he has a great record, India’s defeats in Champions Trophy final and semifinal of 2019 World Cup are dents on his great record.
4. Virender Sehwag – 24 Years and 178 Days
Virender Sehwag is one of the most destructive openers in the history of the ODIs. While Sehwag has been vice-captain of the Indian team for a long time, he never got the captaincy permanently.
The opening batsman got the first taste of captaincy when Sourav Ganguly rested himself for the match against Bangladesh. Sehwag led the Indian team in 12 ODIs and managed to win seven out of those 12 matches, which is a decent record.
3. Kapil Dev – 23 Years and 249 Days
Kapil Dev is not only of the best all-rounders in the history of the game but he is also a great leader. He was the captain of the Indian team, which broke the dominance of the West Indies over World Cups against all the odds.
He got his first taste of captaincy against Sri Lanka when Sunil Gavaskar took a rest. The selectors soon appointed as the permanent captain and the rest they say is history. The all-rounder led the Indian team in 74 ODIs, winning 39 of them.
2. Suresh Raina – 23 Years and 182 Days
Suresh Raina was a pivotal part of the Indian ODI set up for a long time. He could vary his game according to the situation, which made him one of the first names on the team sheet.
The left-hander got the opportunities to lead the Indian team in the series when the seniors got to rest. He just got to lead the team in 12 ODIs, and to his credit, he won six of those.
1. Sachin Tendulkar – 23 Years 126 Days
A lot of fans refer to Sachin Tendulkar as the “God of cricket”. While this nickname might seem a bit over the top, he was given such nickname because there were few things he could not do on the cricket field. He is one of the greatest batsmen in history, he was a good bowler, a safe fielder, but he did struggle in one thing, captaincy.
Under Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy, India won just 23 out of 73 ODIs. While this poor record was also due to the quality of players around him, it is one small dent on the greatness of Sachin.
