Crickest is the most popular sport in India. The Indian team has had many captains over the years and here is the list of the greatest among them.

Cricket is the most favoured sport in India, even surpassing Football and Hockey. Indian Cricket has seen many captains but very few of them have been able to make significant contributions. Here are the six greatest captains of Indian Cricket team.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pattaudi

The son of former Indian captain Ifthikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is the youngest captain to have led India. He took charge at the age of 21 and led India in 40 tests. Under his captaincy, the fielding improved significantly. The rise of Indian spin bowling was also during his tenure.

Sunil Gavaskar

One of the greatest batsmen in the history of Cricket, Sunil Gavaskar was also a good captain.

He has led India in 47 tests. Under his leadership, India won the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1985. It was one of the greatest achievements in Indian Cricket. It was the final match of Gavaskar as captain and this team was selected as the Indian team of the Century by Wisden. Gavaskar also led India to the victory of 1984 Sharjah Cup.

Kapil Dev

Known as the Haryana Hurricane, Kapil Dev is one of the greatest captains India has ever had. He was the first skipper to win a world cup for India, in 1983. This winning team was later called Kapil's Devils. Kapil was one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. His 434 test wickets was a world record for many years. He was also selected as the Indian Cricketer of the 20th Century by Wisden Magazine in 2002.

Mohammed Azharuddin

Azharuddin had the longest tenure as the Indian skipper. He has led India in 174 ODIs and 47 tests. Under his captaincy India has won 10 tournaments. He also led Team India in 3 world cups. He lost the place in Indian team following the match fixing scandal.

Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly, known as the Bengal Tiger, was one of the greatest and toughest captains of India. He is considered to be the one that taught team India to win and win convicingly. Ganguly became the captain of Indian test team and ODI team in 2000. He led the Men in Blue to the final of 2003 World Cup, only to lose to Australia. India has won a number of tournaments under his leadership including ICC Champions Trophy.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The current Indian captain is the one who won the world cup for India after 28 years in 2011. Known as Captain Cool, Dhoni holds the record for leading India to most number of wins in both Test and ODIs. He was also the captain to lead India to victory in the first ever Twenty 20 world cup, in 2007.