No team can become a powerhouse in cricket without a strong test captain. In India’s case, the team has benefited from some of the greatest cricketing minds.
There have been several great captains in India, but who is the greatest? Read on to find out who are the top 10 Indian test captains. This information and stats can help you succeed when placing your winning bets at Parimatch.
Table of Contents
Top 10 India Test Captain
The list of the greatest India test captains features the original leaders like MAK Pataudi, yesteryear stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly, and modern heroes like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Here is the India test captain list.
| Captain | Span | Matches | W | L | T | D | Win % |
| Virat Kohli | 2014-2022 | 68 | 40 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 58.82 |
| MS Dhoni | 2008-2014 | 60 | 27 | 18 | 0 | 15 | 45 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 2000-2005 | 49 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 42.85 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 47 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 19 | 29.78 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2003-2007 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 32 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 25 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 16 |
| Kapil Dev | 1983-1987 | 34 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 11.76 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 1976-1985 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 19.14 |
| Rohit Sharma | 2022-2022 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi | 1962-1975 | 40 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 22.5 |
Virat Kohli
- Nickname: Cheeku
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm medium
- Role: Top-order batsman
This extraordinary batsman has played over 100 Test matches for India, captaining 68. Picking up full-time captaincy post-MS Dhoni’s retirement in 2014, Kohli immediately caught the eye of cricket pundits. He became the first Test captain in history to score three centuries (115, 141, and 147) in his first three innings. Kohli has the most test wins as captain of India.
The ambitious journey of King Kohli’s captaincy had just begun. 2015 saw India touring Sri Lanka and beating them 2-1 to win the first test series abroad in four years under his leadership. By the end of the year, they had rocked a much higher-ranked South Africa 3-0 on home turf. From ICC rank number 7 to number 2 in no time, Kholi’s dreams were far from over.
During the 2016 Caribbean tour, he scored the first Test double ton by any Indian Captain outside India. India won the series 2-0 and briefly became ICC ranked number 1. He was the one to lead India to the number 1 spot by beating New Zealand 3-0 on home turf.
Virat became the first Test captain to score two double centuries for India. He registered two more consecutive Test series tons on his name against England and Bangladesh, making it four in a row.
Virat Kohli equaled the record of Saurav Ganguly’s most Test wins outside India. Under him, India won the ICC Test championship Mace in 2017, 2018, and 2019. He has the unique feat of test wins in the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia).
In January, he resigned as India’s test captain in 2022.
MS Dhoni
- Nickname: Thala, Mahi, Captain Cool
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm medium
- Role: Wicket-keeper batsman
Captain Cool took over the Test captaincy in 2008 and immediately tasted success with 4 out of 4 wins as the best test captain of India. Mahi led India to their first series win against the Kiwis on their home turf in 2009. The 1-0 margin was India’s first in New Zealand for over 40 years.
Within the next two years, a spate of victories took India to a historic ICC number 1 rank in Test cricket. The team won the ICC Test Championships Mace twice in 2010 and 2011.
In 2011, Dhoni’s side drew a Test series against the Rainbow Nation on their home turf. India had lost all four series played in South Africa until then.
The next six years saw India setting a prolific 70% win record at home. However, as Sourav Ganguly once said, “the real test begins overseas.” The team had a spate of humiliating defeats on their tours of Australia, South Africa, and England in the coming years. Dhoni felt the pressure of captaining India in all three formats. His form nose-dived as well.
The fearless Test skipper gave up his six years of Test captaincy in the middle of the Australian tour in 2014 while India had already lost the series. Thala led India in 60 Tests and came up with 27 wins to register a 45% win percentage.
Sourav Ganguly
- Nickname: Dada, Prince of Calcutta, Bengal Tiger, The Maharaja
- Batting: Left-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm medium
- Role: Middle-order batsman
The galvanizer of Indian cricket crafted a winning team from a cluster of talented yet aimless youngsters. Ganguly assumed captaincy with his stern and daredevil approach after the 2000 match-fixing scandal. The most successful captain overseas for almost two decades (11 wins in 28 Test matches), the Bengal Tiger remained an uncompromising leader throughout his captaincy. 2001 saw India creating history by stopping the Australian juggernaut of 16 consecutive Test wins at Eden Gardens. India went on to win the series 2-1.
In 2004, Ganguly’s form dipped. India too, suffered a humiliating series loss to Australia at home after 1969. The indifferent form and dispute with the coach led to the removal of Dada from the Test captaincy in 2005. However, by then, he had already laid the foundation for the likes of MS Dhoni to take over. The Maharaja led India in 49 Tests. With a win percentage of 42.85%, he won 21 of them.
Ganguly’s fruits of labor created many dominant players for India, like Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni. Many of these went on to make it big for India. An achievement not recorded anywhere.
Mohammed Azharuddin
- Nickname: Azzu, Azhar, Ajji, Miyan
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm medium
- Role: Batsman
Azhar started his captaincy stint in 1989 and mustered a record 14 Test wins when he played his last match with Sri Lanka in 1999 as a captain. The record went on for four years before Ganguly broke it in 2004 with a win over Pakistan. The wristy player was also a magnetic fielder and held many records until he last played.
However, his impressive record on custom-built domestic pitches remains a forgettable one outside the country. India never won a Test in any major Test-playing nation under him. The solitary win came against a weak Sri Lankan team in the Colombo Test in 1993.
His glittering career succumbed to a match-fixing scandal in the year 2000. The captain certainly had more substance in him than what is visible in his 29.78% wins (14 wins in 47 Tests) for India.
Rahul Dravid
- Nickname: Mr. Dependable, Jammy, The Wall
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm off break
- Role: Batsman, Part-time Wicket Keeper
The current Indian head coach had a yogic concentration in his playing days. He had the knack of grinding the opposition with his orthodox batting style. The Wall of Indian cricket never collapsed in the 31528 balls it played in 286 Test innings. He never had a Golden duck in Test matches.
When Ganguly got injured during the 2004 tour to Pakistan, Dravid became the next test captain of India and brought down Pakistan on their home turf. India won their first-ever Test match in Pakistan. He took full-time captaincy briefly between 2005 to 2007, post-Greg Chapell-Ganguly controversy, and famously won the 2006 West Indies series.
A similar stellar result in English conditions in 2007 and the first-ever Test win in South Africa in 2006 can be credited to the solid mentorship of Rahul Dravid.
Under him, India played a total of 25 Test matches and won 8 with a win percentage of 32% (5 of them came abroad). The humble man remained one of the most versatile Test captains, always putting the team first ahead of him. Dravid is one of the most successful test captains of India.
Sachin Tendulkar
- Nickname: Little Master, Master Blaster
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm leg/off break
- Role: Batsman, Top-order Batsman
Decorated with Bharat Ratna (The highest civilian award in India), the God of Cricket in India has the most hundreds in the history of Test matches (51). With a massive load of expectations, his first stint as a Test captain came in 1996. He took over from Mohammad Azharuddin, and everyone thought it the right choice considering his stardom and popularity within the team.
Ironically, the team performed severely against South Africa, West Indies, and Sri Lanka by the end of 1997. His second term saw India losing badly by 3-0 on the Australian tour in 1999-2000. The trend continued when touring South Africa defeated them in the Mumbai and Bangalore Tests in 2000.
The dismal performances were enough for the Master to resign and hand over the captaincy to Saurav Ganguly soon after. His little four wins in 25 matches gave him an awful 16% win record as captain of India. Millions still worship the superstar due to his single-handed contributions to Indian cricket.
Kapil Dev
- Nickname: Kaps, Kapil Paaji, The Haryana hurricane
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium
- Role: All-rounder
After leading India to their maiden title in the 1983 ODI World Cup, Kapil Paaji gave up captaincy after India lost the Test series 3-0 to West Indies at home. However, he soon returned as captain in 1985 and delivered an emphatic Test win on India’s tour to England.
It was their first-ever win at the Mecca of cricket, Lords. It took India 21 Tests to get this Test win. The visitors won the series 2-0. A poor show against visitors from Pakistan in 1987 and rumors of a rift with Sunil Gavaskar also got into the Haryana hurricane’s form.
He never captained India again post this period. India could manage only 4 Test wins out of the 34 matches played under his captaincy, with a win percentage of 11.76%. He remains a personality many try to emulate on the field.
Sunil Gavaskar
- Nickname: Sunny, Little Master
- Batting: Right-handed
- Role: Opening Batsman
The batting technician and one of the greatest Test players delivered a subpar performance as the test cricket captain of India. He exchanged captaincy multiple times with young Kapil Dev before surrendering it entirely in 1985. His conservative approach to captaincy saw many potential matches ending with a tame draw.
The Little Master started well with an applaudable eight-wicket win against New Zealand in Auckland in 1976. He followed it up with a 1-0 win over visitors West Indies in 1978-79. He was surprisingly removed from captaincy for the Australian tour. Sunny showed his batting class throughout that tour and regained captaincy in late 1979.
Australia and Pakistan toured India the same year, and the hosts played some gruesome cricket under his leadership to win the series by a 2-0 margin, respectively.
Throughout 1981-82, India won 1-0 against England, drew 1-1 against Australia, and had an unexpected draw in a one-off match against weak Sri Lanka. They lost to New Zealand 1-0 and had a poor tour of Pakistan in 1983-84. The mounting losses continued, and they lost 1-2 to England in a home series in 1984-85.
Sunny had seen enough and resigned immediately, marking a feeble end to his captaincy. India played 47 Tests under him, winning a mere 9 of them with a win percentage of 19.14%.
Rohit Sharma
- Nickname: Hitman
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm off-break
- Role: Middle-order batsman
Current India test new captain, Rohit Sharma, took over the reign once Virat Kohli resigned post a 1-2 series loss in the 2021-22 South African tour. The IPL star whitewashed the Lankans 2-0 in his very first series as captain. He became only the second Test captain to secure an innings defeat in his debut match.
Sharma’s man-management and effective communication helped him be named India’s Test captain. Under him, players such as Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have made the ODI team. He helped India win the series against Sri Lanka in March 2022.
A 100% win record (2 out of 2 wins) of the new test captain of India remains to be tested once the team travels abroad, especially in SENA countries.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
- Nickname: Tiger Pataudi
- Batting: Right-handed
- Bowling: Right-arm Medium
- Role: All-rounder
World’s youngest Test captain at 21 years (until 2004), the best fielder of the era, a gritty fighter who fought off an eye injury, Nawab of Pataudi captained India in 40 of the 46 Test matches from 1961 to 1975. He may not be the most successful captain, but he was the most important one.
He taught India’s Test team how to break the inferiority complex and come out of the habit of just passing the five days in a match.
He was the first Indian captain to win an overseas Test in Feb 1968. He went on to win the series 3-1 against New Zealand. It was India’s maiden Test series win away from home. With 9 wins in 40 Tests and a win percentage of 22.50%, Tiger Pataudi remains the most charismatic and revolutionary Test captain of India.
FAQ
Who is the captain of India in 2022?
Rohit Sharma is India’s new test captain in 2022.
Who was the first captain of the India test team?
CK Nayudu was the first test captain of India.
Who is the test captain of India?
Rohit Sharma is the India test team captain.
Who is India’s No 1 captain?
Virat Kohli is the most successful captain in test cricket in India, with a win rate of 58.82%.
Who is India’s Test vice-captain?
Rishabh Pant was the vice-captain in India’s last Test match, and Jasprit Bumrah was the test captain of India in 2022.
Conclusion
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