Test cricket is the oldest form of Cricket played to date. It is considered as the purest form of cricket played for 5 days with each team batting and bowling twice. Test cricket is very tough to play as it requires lots of patience and skills to play for continuous days. Many teams have done that and have excelled in the format.
To make a team successful in any format, the role of captain is very important. They lead the team and guide the players on how to perform. Currently, the Indian Test team stands on the top of the points table of ICC Test Rankings. It’s not easy to take the team to such a height, the captain has to take risk and even has to take some harsh decisions for which he may face a lot of criticism.
INDIAN NATIONAL CRICKET TEAM attained Test status in the year 1931 and played their first match against England which started on 25 June 1932 and ended on 28 June 1932 and was played in the iconic Lords Stadium in London. Since then, India has played 560 Test Matches in which they have won 166 matches and lost 173 matches and 220 matches were drawn.
In the span of 90 years, India has seen many Captains taking hold of the team. Some took the team to new Heights and broke records while some did not perform as per expectations. Currently, the Captain post of the Indian Test Team is vacant as the former Captain of the Virat Kohli resigned from the post after a series of defeats against South Africa. Let’s have a look at the captain who has led the Indian team in the most number of the Matches.
Captain to lead Team India in Most number of Matches
ViratKohliis the captain who has led the Indian team in the most number of Matches. Kohli has captained the Indian Test Team for seven years and has achieved many feats in his span. He has led the Team in 68 matches which is the most by any Indian Captain. In 68 matches, India has emerged winner in 40 which makes him the most successful Indian Test Captain and the Fourth most successful captain in the world.
Kohli became Test captain in 2014 after MS Dhoni stepped down as captain following defeat against Australia. Under Kohli’s captaincy, India has never lost any Test Series in home soil. He has maintained a 100% win record at home and they became the first Asian Country to win a series on Australian Soil. Seeing the stats, we cannot argue that Kohli is one of the greatest captains.
Captain in a first cricket match between India and British in 1721
The cricket game was introduced by British men in the 18th century. The first cricket club was introduced in the year 1792. Where in the first cricket match was played in the year 1721 when the British sailors had visited India and the era of the British colonial empire had begun. Many believed that the sport had been traveled to India and slowly got acceptance in the Parsee community.
India’s Men Cricket team which is generally referred to as Team India had gotten its Test status recognized in the year 1931. The first test match was played by the Indian team in the year 1932 at the legendary cricket ground Lord’s. It was led by CK Nayudu, as the captain of the 1932 cricket Team, since he was the best batsman to be considered at that time. So let’s take a look at the History of the Indian Cricket team and the captains since the birth of the sport.
First Test Series as Hosts
In the year 1933, India had hosted the first-ever test series. The England team visited them where they played 2 matches, one in Bombay and one match in Calcutta. England had won both the matches. The Indian Cricket team continued to make efforts and improve their form. They soon won their first test match against England in 1952. They had also won the test series later in the same year against Pakistan.
Later when the India Cricket team started getting their momentum since their first win, the era of Sunil Gavaskar and Vishvanath had begun. The 1971 test series under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar which was held in England had won the series against West Indies.
One day Series and The recognition of ICC World Cup
A call on having a strong board to conduct the international cricket leagues and other tournaments was Taken in the year 1971. At that time India was led by the brilliant batsman, Sunil Gavaskar. In the same year, the idea of One-Day international matches was also introduced.
In the year 1983, the Indian cricket team was headed by the all-rounder Kapil Dev. And as we know the year was known to be the year of the Indian team as they had their first ICC World Cup.
Rivalries
Over the years, Indians had gained a lot of experience and achieved many wins. In this due course of time, the team had also made rival teams. England and Pakistan are the arch-rivals of India. Since the inception of cricket in India in 1721, India was seen as a potential target by all its competitors. Nevertheless, India was not afraid to face and had given them tough luck in all their matches.
How many times has the Indian cricket team declared an innings at Lord’s cricket ground?
As we speak of the Indian Cricket team, they have emerged as one of the toughest teams to defeat amongst the others. Cricket as a sport has over the years introduced many formats of the game. Be it international cricket which is organized by the official board, ICC, or be it Test series and ODI. Now there are editions of domestic cricket as well. Which includes. IPL, PPL, LPL, etc.
Lords Cricket Ground or commonly known as Home of Cricket or the Mecca of Cricket is a cricket ground where most of the international matches take place. It is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The Indian Cricket team has some sweet memories of at the ground. One of the main highlights of the team and the ground is the 1983 World Cup win under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. So let’s take a look at the other occasions where the Indian team has won on the same ground.
17 times Indian cricket team declared an innings at Lord’s cricket ground
There are seventeen occasions where the Indian Cricket Team has played a test match on this ground. Under the captaincy of many, the Indian Cricket team does not have an exciting record in test matches, however, they have played 17 test matches at Lords, winning twice, drawing four times.
So let’s take a look at some of those years.
1.1971
India Vs England Test tour where Indian played at the Lord’s for the first test match from 22nd July 1971. England’s captain Richard had won the toss and chose to bat first. After the first innings, Allan Knott scored 67, Snow 77 and the England skipper Illingworth 33 bagged a total of 304 runs. Later for India, Bishan Singh Bedi swamped 4 wickets, BS Chandershekar 3 wickets. Which in reply, captain Ajit Wadekar scored 85 runs, GR Vishwanath 68, Solkar 67 helped India post 313 with a lead of just 9 runs. However, the match was called a draw after the second innings.
2. 1979
India had faced England in the 4th test match of the series at Lords played between which was played during August 30th to 4th September 1979. The England captain JM Brearley had won the toss where he decided that the team is going to bat first. Thereby Gooch 79, P Willey 52, Ian Botham 38, captain Brearley 34 bagged with 305 runs in the first innings. Meanwhile, for India, Kapil Dev and Venkataraghavan managed to get 3 wickets each. In the second innings, India made 429 for 8 wherein the match ended in a draw.
3. 1986
Kapil Dev led the Indian Cricket Team in the year1986, wherein India registered their first test win over England at iconic Lords Cricket Ground. Kapil had won the toss against England and chose to field first. An exceptional bowling effort by the Indian bowlers restricted the hosts at a score of 294 runs. For India, Chetan Sharma plunged 5 wickets, Roger Binny 3 wickets. Whereas Dilip Vengsarkar 126 not out, Mohinder Amarnath 69, with a total of 341 runs, India got a lead of 47 runs in the first innings.
4. 1996
India locked horns on England for a second test match in the year 1996. This was an iconic match as two of the most exceptional players had made their test debut, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. In this match, Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin won the toss where he decided to field first. England scored a total of 344 runs. Meanwhile, a great 131 runs by debutants Sourav Ganguly along with 95 runs by Rahul Dravid had given the team a massive total of 429 runs. However, the match was called as a draw after the second innings.
Cricket is one of the most famous games played in the world that is played between two teams. In the shortest game format of cricket where the teams have single innings each, many teams participate in the game with good experience and skilled players between them.
The teams competing at these matches have kept increasing their participation at the T20 matches and now they have produced some of the best T20 players India that has captured the hearts of fans worldwide. Below you can check out the complete details and their Top 5 Best T20 Cricketers.
Cricket has found out some of the best T20 players have broken the record and make the most worth out of it. Some players had already made history by working so hard and being consistent in all formats of games.
There are 5 cricket facts
The longes played cricket match is 12 days
There are cricket commentators who have never played cricket T20
The first England World Cup was won by the women’s side
111 is considered to be a unlock
A good inning comes from cricket
Top 5 Best T20 Cricketers
5. KL Rahul
KL Rahul is 29 years who resurrected his test career in England. After winning the orange cup he is in the lead this year as well as got 626 runs in 13 games. He is one of the most consistent batsmen in the shortest format and had played well and with confidence and made his name as well.
KL Rahul is the current captain of Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League and he was the first Indian to score a century in a men’s One Day International debut.
Full Name: Kannur Lokesh Rahul
Birth Date: 18th April 1992
Born Place: Banglore, Karnataka
Role: Opening batsman wicketkeeper
4. Jasprit Bumrah
In the ICC T20 world cup event, Bumrah will lead after ending the IPL 2021 season with 21 wickets. The similar wickets in the ICC T20 world will try their best to win it all up. Bumrah is been to do bowling for Koli at the international level and Rohit at the IPL level.
Jasprit belongs to India and he plays for all format games, he was the first Asian player to take the first five wickets.
Full Name: Japrit Jasbir Singh Bumrah
Birth Date: 6th Dec 1993
Born Place: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Role: Bowler
3. Rohit Sharma
After Virat Koli Rohit Sharma is going to take over the reins. He is one of the senior players on the team and will surely score runs for the team. In 2019 he had a good play with the bat. About the current IPL season, he finished the season with 381 runs in 13 games.
Full Name: Rohit Gurunath Sharma
Birth Date: 30th April 1987
Born Place: Nagpur, Maharashtra
Role: Opening Batsman
2. Ravindra Jadeja
He plays as a batsman for the team and he is a strong player. He can be entrusted with a role of a finisher in the T20 world cup. By looking at his last games played the team can trust him more in terms of playing the game. He’s playing for the Indian team is always been an asset to the team.
Full Name: Ravindra Jadeja
Birth Date: 6th Dec 1998
Born Place: Navagam Ghed, Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Role: All-rounder
1. Virat Koli
Koli has already announced the step down as India’s T20 skipper after the world cup this makes the tournament even more important for the skipper. Kohli has yet to win the world cup title and it is going to be the last chance for him to win the game. Koli is a good form to play as a batsman. he has confirmed that he will be opening the batting with Rohit Sharma.
Cricket refers to the sport where a team requires at least 11 players and a match is played between two of such teams. The match has three main activities batting where player hit the ball to score runs, bowling where players try out the batter to and feliding where player make sure to not let the ball out of the field or try to catch. The batting and Bowling/fielding id decided bya toss(coin flip), the team to win the toss decides to bat or bowl/field.
Everyone love Cricket and their players it is one of the most watches sports in the world. Their is always a discussion the best captain or who could be the best captain, people sometime asses them on the basis of their achievements or their looks. Here are the top 10 most popular cricket captains all over the world of all times.
1.Steve Waugh
Born: 2 June 1964, Campsie, New South Wales, Australia
He is a former professional cricketer, a right-handed batsman and medium-pace bowler, started his career in 1984 and known as Tugger or Ice man and lead the Australisn team from 1997 to 2004. Australia won the 1999 Cricket World cup and a 15 succesive wins in International test matches under his captaincy. And internationally retired in 2002
2.Clive Lloyed
Born: 31 August 1977, Georgetown, Guiana
He is a former West Indies team left handed batter and right are medium bowler who debut in 1966 famously known as Super Cat and was the captain of the West Indies team from the year 1974 to 1985. In his cantaincy West Indies won 2 World cup in 1975, 1979. he also earned 100 internationals caps. finally internationally retiring in 1984.
3.Ricky Ponting
Born: 11 December 1974, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
He is a former Australian right-handed batter and right-arm medium bowler who debut in 1995 nicknamed Punter. led the Australisn team between 2004 and 2011. After Sachin Tendulkar he placed 2nd for most international centuries in the cricket world. he internationally retired in 2012.
4.Graeme Smith
Born: 1 Febuary 1981, Johannesburg, Transvaal province, South Africa
South African former cricketer a left handed opening batter. Debut in 1999 famously known as Biff, led the his team from 2003 to 2014 till his retirement. he was the most capped captain ever. In 2003 he made double centuries in successive test matches. he also is the 12 player in the world to score above 9000 runs in his 112th test match.
5.MS Dhoni
Born: 7 july 1981, Ranchi, Bihar( now in Jharkhand), India
Former Indian cricketer a wicketkeeper Batsman debut in 1999 famously known as Mahi and captain cool led India from 2007 till 2017. Under his Captaincy India won ICC World T20 2007, ICC World Cup 2011 and ICC champions Trophy 2013. Ranked first in ICC test in 2009 further led domestic team CSK to win IPL in 2010, 2011 and 2018. And internationally retired in 2022.
6.Hansie cronje
Born: 25 Septrmber 1969, Bloemfontein, Free State South Africa
Death: 1 June 2002 Caradork Peak, Outeniqua Mountains, South Africa
Late south African Cricketer, an All-rounder right haned batter and right-arm medium bowler debut in 1992. Under his captaincy the team won 27 test matches and 99 One Day Internationals, but unfortunately he died in 2012 in an airplane accident.
7.Virat Kohli
Born: 5 November 1988, Delhi, India
he is an active Indian cricketer debut in 2008 is a right-handed top-order batter. In 2013 he was ranked one for best ODI batsman, he aslo won the title of Man of the Tournament in ICC World tournament in the year 2014 and 2016. In 2017 he took the role of Captain of Indian cricket team.
8.Michael Clarke
Born: 2 April 1981, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
He is a former Australian Cricketer and commentator, a right-handed middle-order batter, debut in 2003. Under his captaincy Australia won the 5th Cicket World Cup. He was the first captain for T20 international for Australia and step down as the captain in 2011, he was nicknamed as the pup.
9.Sourav Ganguly
Born: 8 July 1972, Calcutta,, West Bengal, India
Former indian Cricketer and 39th president of BCCI, he is a left handed Batsman popularly known as Maharaja and God of off-side because of his off-side bating methods. Became the captain of India cricket team in 2000. he has scored more than 10,000 runs in ODI’s.
10.Mahela Jayawardene
Born: 27 may 1977, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Former Sri Lankan cricketer a right handed batter debut in 1997. Nicknamed Master Mind was first Sri Lankan player to score more than 10,000 runs in test matches and second in ODI’s. He has one of the highest partnership of 624 runs with Kumar Sangakkara against south Africa. In 2006 he captained the team against England.
Tendulkar’s record is surpassed by Kohli with a century against Sri Lanka
In the final game of the series against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram, Virat Kohli put up a spectacular performance by scoring his 46th ODI century. He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s previous record of 20 home ODI hundreds with this one.
The century also brings Sachin Tendulkar’s overall ODI century total of 49, which is currently just three off the Little Master’s record, closer to him.
After 85 balls, Kohli reached his century, but he then changed his strategy, scoring 166* off 110 deliveries to close out the innings. His current score in ODI cricket ranks second, and it is also the greatest at home.
The highest sixes he’s ever hit in an ODI inning were struck during his stunning effort, which included 13 fours and eight maximums.
Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar
Image of Virat Kohli, from Wikipedia.
Virat Kohli’s effort saw him overcome Mahela Jayawardene in the list of all-time ODI run scorers, proving that no records were spared on that day. With 12754 runs, he is currently only behind Sachin Tendulkar (14234), Kumar Sangakkara (14234), Ricky Ponting (13704), Sanath Jayasuriya (13430), and Jayasuriya (13430). (18426).
Following their victory in the day’s earlier toss, India decided to bat first. After India’s openers gave them the ideal start, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli used a century stand to launch an offensive on the opposition after Rohit Sharma left.
A big target of 391 was set by India for Sri Lanka after Gill reached his second ODI century (116 off 97 balls), at which point Kohli put the finishing touches on the victory.
Mohammed Siraj took the lead with a four-for as Sri Lanka’s total was bowled out for just 73 in response. The largest victory margin ever in a men’s ODI was 317 runs, achieved by India.
