Not Ganguly, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni or Kohli: Gautam Gambhir names India's best-ever captain

In recent decades, India has been fortunate to have had several iconic cricket captains, each leaving their mark on the team's history. Among the notable leaders are MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, and Kapil Dev, all of whom achieved remarkable success during their captaincy stints. While opinions on the greatest Indian cricket captain may vary, many consider MS Dhoni to be arguably the greatest of all time, given his outstanding achievements at the helm. Gautam Gambhir was recently tasked with the challenging decision of choosing the best-ever captain of the Indian cricket team.

3 things you need to know

• MS Dhoni has won all three major ICC trophies as India captain
• Kapil Dev is another Indian skipper to have won the World Cup
• Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly have not won any major ICC title

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Gambhir picks better captain among Dhoni, Kohli, Ganguly, Kapil

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, renowned for his candid and often polarizing statements, has once again raised eyebrows by selecting India's greatest-ever cricket captain. In an interview, Gambhir unequivocally chose Anil Kumble as the best Indian cricket captain, favoring him over iconic skippers like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, and Kapil Dev. Gambhir had previously expressed his admiration for Kumble's leadership.

During a rapid-fire round on the 'Bada Bharat Show' with Vivek Bindra on his YouTube channel, the Delhi-born cricketer faced the daunting task of selecting the finest captain from an illustrious lineup that included Kohli, Dhoni, Ganguly, and Kapil Dev. Much to everyone's astonishment, he bypassed them all and endorsed the legendary wrist spinner, Anil Kumble.

Anil Kumble's stint as India captain

It's worth noting that Kumble assumed the Test captaincy for India in 2007, leading the team in 14 games. However, his captaincy tenure was not marked by overwhelming success, as the team secured three victories out of 14 matches, suffered five defeats, and settled for six draws. Despite his mixed captaincy record, Kumble concluded his illustrious career as the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history, with 619 wickets from 132 matches at an average of 29.65.

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However, Kumble's record was broken by England's James Anderson, who now holds the third position in the all-time highest wicket-takers in international red-ball format. Kumble also ranks fourth on the list of most wickets in international cricket, boasting an impressive tally of 956 wickets from 403 appearances across formats.

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