Most deserving Indian never to become a Captain

[neel roy]

India has had a number of captains across all formats other than the usual long term ones. Once a captain ( even if for one match) you ll always be recorded as a Captain badge holder.. Ajay Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Sehwag, Gambhir and Ravi Shastri, Srikkanth, Vengsarkar of the past have all been captains albeit only a handful matches.. who amongst the following do you all think deserved a chance to lead the team based on their contributions..

 

1) Yuvraj Singh ( he definitely should have)

2) VVS Laxman ( maybe he was more of a test player so T20 was out of options)

3) Zaheer Khan ( did captain MI)

4) Harbhajan Singh ( MI captain)

5) Ravi Ashwin

 

[R!TTER]

Nasser 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Only ashwin among them , rest i doubt about other being good captains

 

But 

Ajay jadeja

Gambhir

Rohit sharma

 

wud have been very good captains

 

[King6]

Rohith

[neel roy]

I was thinking of anyone who has never been captain even for one match in any format. Rohit has captained India a number of times. 

[kohli]

Ashwin 

vvs 

 

[Majestic]

Rohit

Ashwin

Gambhir

 

These three definitely.

[nevada]

I used to wonder why Yuvi was not appointed captain for the first T20 WC instead of Dhoni. 

[bowl_out]

Ashwin and Rohit..

 

I don't think Yuvi, Bhajji, VVS would have made good captains

[neel roy]

1 hour ago, nevada said:

I used to wonder why Yuvi was not appointed captain for the first T20 WC instead of Dhoni. 

Greg Chappell was in favour of Dhoni. Yuvraj used to rile Chappell up. And Dhoni was in prime form having beaten pakistan in home n away odi s with his batting..Chappell left and then t20 w cup came up. Dravid Sachin Ganguly stepped away and Dhoni became the captain

[BacktoCricaddict]

@neel roy, what does it mean to be "deserving" of captaincy?  I am guessing three things

(1) on-field performance: not necessarily the best player, but good enough to justify place in team

(2) management skills

(3) tactical nous

 

 

(1) is easy for fans to judge.  (2) and (3)?  Not so much.  For instance, going by demeanor and on-field interactions, no one would've guessed that the quiet and seemingly  meek Rahane would be a stellar captain, but we know otherwise.

 

From the names mentioned on this thread, I can only agree with Rohit Sharma being deserving of India captaincy.  There is enough evidence that the guy can be a good captain (IPL).  Added in edit; Rohit Sharma does not fit your criteria ... so, strike.  

 

I don't think Yuvraj or Harbhajan would've been good captains at the highest level.  Yuvraj seemed to pout a lot and get down when things were not going well, and Harbhajan just seemed like a little child ready to pick on someone at all times.  

 

VVS Laxman just seemed content being a batsman and didn't seem like the kind of guy who would have liked to be a captain.  But then again, he could've been another Rahane.  

 

Ashwin? He is the brilliant professor who could never be dean.  Not sure he'd give people enough freedom to do their thing.  He'd be another Kumble, probably.  

 

Also, I think Srikkanth was a good captain.  The team did really well in Pakistan under his leadership, but the player revolt and his inconsistent, at times terrible, batting were huge negatives.  

 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by BacktoCricaddict

[Vijy]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

@neel roy, what does it mean to be "deserving" of captaincy?  I am guessing three things

(1) on-field performance: not necessarily the best player, but good enough to justify place in team

(2) management skills

(3) tactical nous

 

 

(1) is easy for fans to judge.  (2) and (3)?  Not so much.  For instance, going by demeanor and on-field interactions, no one would've guessed that the quiet and seemingly  meek Rahane would be a stellar captain, but we know otherwise.

 

From the names mentioned on this thread, I can only agree with Rohit Sharma being deserving of India captaincy.  There is enough evidence that the guy can be a good captain (IPL).  Added in edit; Rohit Sharma does not fit your criteria ... so, strike.  

 

I don't think Yuvraj or Harbhajan would've been good captains at the highest level.  Yuvraj seemed to pout a lot and get down when things were not going well, and Harbhajan just seemed like a little child ready to pick on someone at all times.  

 

VVS Laxman just seemed content being a batsman and didn't seem like the kind of guy who would have liked to be a captain.  But then again, he could've been another Rahane.  

 

Ashwin? He is the brilliant professor who could never be dean.  Not sure he'd give people enough freedom to do their thing.  He'd be another Kumble, probably.  

 

Also, I think Srikkanth was a good captain.  The team did really well in Pakistan under his leadership, but the player revolt and his inconsistent, at times terrible, batting were huge negatives.  

 

 

I'm very glad you singled out srikkanth. he was an excellent captain - chilled out and cool, yet also astute and pragmatic. Shastri was another player who would have been an excellent captain in his playing days IMO.

[neel roy]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

@neel roy, what does it mean to be "deserving" of captaincy?  I am guessing three things

(1) on-field performance: not necessarily the best player, but good enough to justify place in team

(2) management skills

(3) tactical nous

 

 

(1) is easy for fans to judge.  (2) and (3)?  Not so much.  For instance, going by demeanor and on-field interactions, no one would've guessed that the quiet and seemingly  meek Rahane would be a stellar captain, but we know otherwise.

 

From the names mentioned on this thread, I can only agree with Rohit Sharma being deserving of India captaincy.  There is enough evidence that the guy can be a good captain (IPL).  Added in edit; Rohit Sharma does not fit your criteria ... so, strike.  

 

I don't think Yuvraj or Harbhajan would've been good captains at the highest level.  Yuvraj seemed to pout a lot and get down when things were not going well, and Harbhajan just seemed like a little child ready to pick on someone at all times.  

 

VVS Laxman just seemed content being a batsman and didn't seem like the kind of guy who would have liked to be a captain.  But then again, he could've been another Rahane.  

 

Ashwin? He is the brilliant professor who could never be dean.  Not sure he'd give people enough freedom to do their thing.  He'd be another Kumble, probably.  

 

Also, I think Srikkanth was a good captain.  The team did really well in Pakistan under his leadership, but the player revolt and his inconsistent, at times terrible, batting were huge negatives.  

 

 

Good point. I was going through the list of Captains India had and found that Raina Gambhir all captained India in some tours or the other. My conjecture was at that point, yes surely Dhoni was being rested and so Raina / Gambhir became the captain. But did Yuvraj Singh deserve it more instead of both or was it the fact that form played a part rather than actual assessment of captaincy nous.. agreed the tour was against Zimbabwe and all but end of the day in annals of history Raina will

be recorded as a Captain Badge holder but Yuvraj not.. in terms of the rest Zak Bhajji would never have got the captaincy for the sole reason a bowlers position is not fixed and prone to injury.. Kumble In that way held the captaincy with elan in Aus 2008.. i checked the past Indian captains and saw the following had been captain one time or the other.. 

 

Srikkanth

Vengsarkar

Vishwanath

Amarnath

Shastri

Kirmani

 

In terms of their record as players I dont think

anyone can begrudge the above mentioneds contributions..end of day the captaincy of Indian cricket team is a matter of pride and for some pinnacle of their career..

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by neel roy