There is no doubt that a lot of cricket is being played nowadays which has made it difficult for the cricketers to play all the three forms of the game. Presently, the cricket is divided in two formats – red ball cricket and white ball cricket – red ball cricket is the purest and the longest form of the game, i.e., test cricket whereas ODI (50 overs) and T20 (20 overs) come under the white ball cricket.
Most of the cricketing nations prefer to have different skippers for different formats but there are some Indian skippers who have led the Indian team in all the formats and today in this article, we will share the details of those skippers with you.
1. Virender Sehwag:
The former cricketer was known for his destructive style of batting and he was the first skipper who led India in T20Is. Viru paaji, as his fans love to call him, has led India in 4 test matches, 12 ODIs and 1 T20I. Currently he is entertaining his fans with his commentary in cricket matches and with his wonderful tweets on X (formerly Twitter).
2. MS Dhoni:
He is one of the most successful skippers of team India and has led the team to three ICC trophy wins – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni still plays in the IPL and there are good chances that the IPL 2024 will be his last IPL. As far as the captaincy is concerned, Mahi led India in 60 test matches, 200 ODIs and 72 T20Is.
3. Virat Kohli:
Virat Kohli is considered as one of the greatest cricketers of all times and he took over captaincy from MS Dhoni. Though the Indian team performed pretty well under his captaincy yet he is often trolled for not being able to make his team win an ICC trophy. He is also trolled for not being able to make Royal Challengers Bangalore win an IPL trophy despite the fact that he is associated with the franchise since the inaugural edition of 2008 and he also led the team from 2013 to 2021. Talking about captaincy, Virat Kohli has led the Indian team in 68 test matches, 95 ODIs and 50 T20Is.
4. Ajinkya Rahane:
Ajinkya Rahane acted as a stand-in skipper on some occasions and India won the historic test series against Australia (2020-21) under his leadership. Rahane has led India in 6 test matches, 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is but currently he is out of the Indian squad. Nevertheless, his performance in the IPL 2023 was superb and he played an important role in making his team Chennai Super Kings win the trophy.
5. KL Rahul:
KL Rahul was the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team at one point of time and he used to lead the team in the absence of the skipper but he was out of action for a long time due to injury because of which now he is out of the leadership group. KL Rahul has led the Indian squad in 3 test matches, 10 ODIs and 1 T20I.
6. Rohit Sharma:
Rohit Sharma is the current skipper of the Indian cricket team and most probably he will lead the Indian side in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which will be played in West Indies and USA. Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli and many Indian cricket fans are hoping that he will end India’s drought of the ICC trophy as he has a great record of winning five trophies in the IPL. The Indian team performed superbly in the ICC ODI World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and remained unbeaten till the finals but it had a bad day on the finals and Australia lifted the trophy; however, everyone is keeping crossed for the T20 World Cup 2024.
Playing all the three formats is certainly very difficult, what do you say?