Becoming the captain of the Indian team is the dream of every individual who takes up cricket as a profession in the country. The position of captain of Indian side brings a lot of attention towards any player, and if the team performs brilliantly under his captaincy, then that individual becomes one of the most-respected persons in the country.
The Indian team has been lucky to have had some great leaders like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev and several others. Ever since the IPL came into existence, the selectors have preferred the top performers of the league over others. Some of the players even became captains after performing well as a skipper in the IPL. The best examples are Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya.
However, here’s a list of five such Indian T20I captains who got the opportunity to lead the national team before captaining an IPL side.
1. Virender Sehwag was 1st captain of India’s T20I team
Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag led the Men in Blue in their first-ever T20I match against South Africa in 2006. IPL did not exist at that time.
2. MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni captained the Indian team in ICC T20 World Cup 2007. The former Indian wicketkeeper batter went on to win the championship. IPL came in the year 2008.
3. Ajinkya Rahane
Current Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane led the Men in Blue in a two-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in 2015. Rahane made his IPL captaincy debut for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017.
4. Jasprit Bumrah will captain the Indian team soon
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will make his captaincy debut in T20Is against Ireland later this week. Bumrah has captained India in Test cricket before, but he has never captained Mumbai Indians in IPL.
5. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Chennai Super Kings star Ruturaj Gaikwad has not captained the CSK franchise in the IPL before. Gaikwad will lead the Indian team in the Asian Games men’s cricket tournament.
