Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill, the 25-year-old Indian batter, has been appointed as the new captain of the Indian men’s Test cricket team on Saturday, May 24. He will become India’s 37th Test captain, succeeding Rohit Sharma who retired from the five-day format on May 7.Gill is set to make his Test captaincy debut against England in Leeds on June 20 in the first match of a five-match series.Gill has played 32 Test matches since his debut against Australia in Melbourne on December 26, 2020. He has scored 1893 runs, including five centuries and seven half-centuries.CK Nayudu, who served as India’s first Test captain, led the team in four matches but couldn’t secure any victories. The distinction of being the first Indian captain to win a Test match belongs to Lala Amarnath, who led India to victories against Pakistan in Delhi and Mumbai in 1952.
| No. | Captain | Tenure | Matches | Wins | Defeats | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CK Nayudu | 1932–1934 | 4 | – | 3 | 1 |
| 2 | Maharajkumar of Vizianagram | 1936 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi | 1946 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Lala Amarnath | 1947–1952 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | Vijay Hazare | 1951–1953 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 6 | Vinoo Mankad | 1955–1959 | 6 | – | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Ghulam Ahmed | 1955–1959 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | Polly Umrigar | 1955–1958 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | Hemu Adhikari | 1959 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 10 | Datta Gaekwad | 1959 | 4 | – | 4 | – |
| 11 | Pankaj Roy | 1959 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| 12 | Gulabrai Ramchand | 1959–1960 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Nari Contractor | 1960–1962 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 14 | Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi | 1962–1975 | 40 | 9 | 19 | 12 |
| 15 | Chandu Borde | 1967 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| 16 | Ajit Wadekar | 1971–1974 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 17 | S. Venkataraghavan | 1974–1979 | 5 | – | 2 | 3 |
| 18 | Sunil Gavaskar | 1976–1985 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 30 |
| 19 | Bishan Singh Bedi | 1976–1978 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 |
| 20 | Gundappa Viswanath | 1980 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Kapil Dev | 1983–1987 | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 |
| 22 | Dilip Vengsarkar | 1987–1989 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 23 | Ravi Shastri | 1988 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 24 | K. Srikkanth | 1989 | 4 | – | – | 4 |
| 25 | Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990–1999 | 47 | 14 | 14 | 19 |
| 26 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1996–2000 | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 |
| 27 | Sourav Ganguly | 2000–2005 | 49 | 21 | 13 | 15 |
| 28 | Rahul Dravid | 2003–2007 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 11 |
| 29 | Virender Sehwag | 2005–2012 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Anil Kumble | 2007–2008 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 31 | MS Dhoni | 2008–2014 | 60 | 27 | 18 | 15 |
| 32 | Virat Kohli | 2014–2022 | 68 | 40 | 17 | 11 |
| 33 | Ajinkya Rahane | 2017–2021 | 6 | 4 | – | 2 |
| 34 | KL Rahul | 2022 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – |
| 35 | Rohit Sharma | 2022–2024 | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 |
| 36 | Jasprit Bumrah | 2022–2025 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – |
| 37 | Shubman Gill | 2025– | – | – | – | – |
Poll
Do you think Shubman Gill will be a successful Test captain for India?
Virat Kohli holds the record for being India’s most capped Test captain with 68 matches and the most successful with 40 wins.Rohit Sharma, the outgoing captain, led India in 24 Test matches, securing 12 wins, 9 losses, and 3 draws before announcing his retirement.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?The Indian squad for the upcoming England series features a mix of experienced and new players. The team includes Shubman Gill as captain, Rishabh Pant as vice-captain and wicketkeeper, along with players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
The bowling department comprises Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep, with spin options including Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav.Looking at India’s Test captaincy history, the role has been held by several legendary cricketers. Notable names include Sunil Gavaskar (47 matches), Mohammad Azharuddin (47 matches), Sourav Ganguly (49 matches), and MS Dhoni (60 matches).The team has seen varying levels of success under different captains, with some like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi leading for extended periods (40 matches) and others having shorter stints, such as Hemu Adhikari and Chandu Borde with just one match each.
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