Indian cricket has been blessed with great captains over the years. The likes of Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli have kept the flag flying high. Captaining the India side is no easy task. It is a highly demanding job. There have been few instances when players have had to captain the country in the absence of the regular skipper. These players have often led the teams in one odd series. But interestingly few players have led the side in just a single game. Here are the few Indian cricketers who captained only one ODI.
StumpsandBails looks at 4 Indian players who captained India in just a single ODI:
#4 Gundappa Vishwanath
Indian Cricketers Who Captained Only One ODI. Gundappa Vishwanath was a terrific batsman and is arguably one of the best that India has ever produced. His legendary knocks mainly came in the red-ball format. But he played quite a few ODIs too. Vishwanath got a chance to captain India in a game in 1981. India ended up losing that match. But Vishwanath got a captaincy badge attached to his name.
#3 Syed Kirmani
Syed Kirmani made substantial contributions in India’s World Cup win in 1983. He stitched an unforgettable partnership with Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe. India were struggling badly but an unbeaten partnership between Dev and Kirmani led India to a famous win in Turnbridge Wells. Kirmani too had the good fortune of leading India in an ODI game. But the fate of that game was pretty similar to what had happened when Vishwanath captained the team. India went on to lose the game.
#2 Mohinder Amarnath
Mohinder Amarnath played a starring role in India’s World Cup win in 1983. He was the man of the match in both semis and finals of the World Cup. Amarnath was known to have a solid defensive technique. He was the only Indian batsman apart from Sunil Gavaskar who stood up to the West Indies pace quartet in the 80s. Amarnath too had the privilege of leading India in a solitary game in 1984 against Pakistan. Unfortunately, India went on to lose that game.
#1 Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble is a proud Indian cricketer. He is India’s highest wicket-taker in both ODIs and Tests. His 619 wickets in Tests remains an iconic number in Indian cricketing history. Kumble was asked to lead the India ODI side in 2002 in an ODI in Sourav Ganguly’s absence. He led the team to victory in that game. Kumble was later appointed as Test captain in 2007. He remains one of India’s finest captains and statesmen.
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