Who is youngest Test captain? Full list of India Test captains & records

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Shubman Gill became 37th India captain in the Test cricket on Saturday. He succeded Rohit Sharma as the new India Test captain.  25-year-old Gill will be the new captain in the era which will be without the likes of R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. All three stalwarts of cricket already announced their retirement. 

Shubman Gill is set to enter the record books as the fifth-youngest player to captain India in Test cricket when he leads the side in the opening match of the five-Test series against England at Leeds on June 20.

 

At 25 years and 285 days, the Punjab-born batter takes over the reins following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the longest format earlier this month.

 

The youngest Indian to ever lead the Test team remains Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who captained India at just 21 years and 77 days against the West Indies in 1962.

 

India’s Youngest Test Captains (by age at debut as captain)

• Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi – 21 years, 77 days (vs West Indies, Bridgetown, March 23, 1962)
• Sachin Tendulkar – 23 years, 169 days (vs Australia, Delhi, October 10, 1996)
• Kapil Dev – 24 years, 48 days (vs West Indies, Kingston, February 23, 1983)
• Ravi Shastri – 25 years, 229 days (vs West Indies, Chennai, January 11, 1988)
• Shubman Gill – 25 years, 285 days (vs England, Leeds, June 20, 2025)

 

Who has captained India in the most Test matches? 

Virat Kohli holds the record with 68 Tests as captain (2014–2022), followed by MS Dhoni (60 Tests, 2008–2014), and Sourav Ganguly (49 Tests, 2000–2005).  Which captain has the highest win percentage?

 

Among those who captained in at least 10 Tests:
Captain	Matches	Wins	Win %
Virat Kohli	68	40	58.82%
MS Dhoni	60	27	45.00%
Sourav Ganguly	49	21	42.85%
Note: Ravi Shastri, Ajinkya Rahane, and KL Rahul have higher win % (100%/66.66%) in very short stints (≤3 matches), which are statistically less reliable.

 

  Who has the best W/L ratio?

 

• Virat Kohli again leads with a W/L ratio of 2.35, meaning for every Test lost, India won more than twice under his captaincy.
• KL Rahul has a W/L of 2, but over just 3 matches.
• MS Dhoni follows with a W/L of 1.5.

Which Indian captain had the longest continuous stint? 

Azharuddin captained India from 1990–1999, leading in 47 Tests, making him one of the longest-serving captains in terms of time span.

  Who are India’s most balanced captains? 

Captains with nearly equal wins and losses (indicative of steady leadership during rebuilding phases):
Captain	Span	Matches	Wins	Losses	Draws
AL Wadekar	1971–1974	16	4	4	8
M Azharuddin	1990–1999	47	14	14	19
PR Umrigar	1955–1958	8	2	2	4

 

  Who were some unsuccessful captains?

  Captains with no wins:

• K Srikkanth (4 matches, 4 draws)
• MH Mankad, P Roy, DK Gaekwad, CG Borde, NJ Contractor, among others, all had winless captaincy spells.
• CK Nayudu, India’s first captain, also had no wins in 4 matches.

 

Who captained India in the fewest Tests?
Captain	Matches	Notable Fact
RJ Shastri	1	Won his only Test as captain
CG Borde, P Roy, HR Adhikari	1	All captained only once

 

Who were the standout part-time or interim captains?

 

• Ajinkya Rahane (2017–2021): Undefeated in 6 matches with 4 wins.
• KL Rahul (2022): 2 wins out of 3.
• Sehwag: Led briefly (4 matches) with a solid W/L of 2.

How has recent leadership fared?
Captain	Matches	Wins	Win %	W/L
Rohit Sharma	24	12	50%	1.33
Jasprit Bumrah	3	1	33.33%	0.5
KL Rahul	3	2	66.66%	2

 

Which captain had the most drawn matches?

 

• Sunil Gavaskar (30 draws in 47 matches).
• Kapil Dev (22 draws in 34 matches).
• Reflects the nature of Test cricket in the 70s–80s when draws were frequent.

Who is youngest captain in Test cricket? 

Youngest Test captain in cricket
Player	Age	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
Rashid Khan	20y 350d	Afghanistan	v Bangladesh	Chattogram	5 Sep 2019
T Taibu	20y 358d	Zimbabwe	v Sri Lanka	Harare	6 May 2004
Nawab of Pataudi	21y 77d	India	v West Indies	Bridgetown	23 Mar 1962
Waqar Younis	22y 15d	Pakistan	v Zimbabwe	Karachi	1 Dec 1993
GC Smith	22y 82d	South Africa	v Bangladesh	Chattogram	24 Apr 2003
Shakib Al Hasan	22y 115d	Bangladesh	v West Indies	St George's	17 Jul 2009
ID Craig	22y 194d	Australia	v South Africa	Johannesburg	23 Dec 1957
Javed Miandad	22y 260d	Pakistan	v Australia	Karachi	27 Feb 1980
M Bisset	22y 306d	South Africa	v England	Johannesburg	14 Feb 1899
Mohammad Ashraful	22y 353d	Bangladesh	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (SSC)	25 Jun 2007
MP Bowden	23y 144d	England	v South Africa	Cape Town	25 Mar 1889
SR Tendulkar	23y 169d	India	v Australia	Delhi	10 Oct 1996
GC Grant	23y 217d	West Indies	v Australia	Adelaide	12 Dec 1930
Hon.IFW Bligh	23y 292d	England	v Australia	Melbourne	30 Dec 1882
SP Fleming	23y 319d	New Zealand	v England	Christchurch	14 Feb 1997
JO Holder	23y 343d	West Indies	v Sri Lanka	Galle	14 Oct 2015
ADR Campbell	23y 354d	Zimbabwe	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	11 Sep 1996
Javed Burki	24y 23d	Pakistan	v England	Birmingham	31 May 1962
N Kapil Dev	24y 48d	India	v West Indies	Kingston	23 Feb 1983
DJ Bravo	24y 95d	West Indies	v South Africa	Durban	10 Jan 2008
WJ Cronje	24y 125d	South Africa	v Australia	Adelaide	28 Jan 1994
Mushfiqur Rahim	24y 165d	Bangladesh	v West Indies	Chattogram	21 Oct 2011
IT Botham	24y 194d	England	v West Indies	Nottingham	5 Jun 1980
HW Taylor	24y 222d	South Africa	v England	Durban	13 Dec 1913
BA Murphy	24y 342d	Zimbabwe	v Bangladesh	Dhaka	8 Nov 2001
KC Brathwaite	25y 8d	West Indies	v New Zealand	Hamilton	9 Dec 2017
DB Carr	25y 40d	England	v India	Chennai	6 Feb 1952
KJ Hughes	25y 57d	Australia	v Pakistan	W.A.C.A	24 Mar 1979
AN Cook	25y 77d	England	v Bangladesh	Chattogram	12 Mar 2010
MV Boucher	25y 81d	South Africa	v Australia	Johannesburg	22 Feb 2002
Najmul Hossain Shanto	25y 95d	Bangladesh	v New Zealand	Sylhet	28 Nov 2023
DS Sheppard	25y 117d	England	v Pakistan	Nottingham	1 Jul 1954
DI Gower	25y 133d	England	v Pakistan	Lord's	12 Aug 1982
MA Atherton	25y 135d	England	v Australia	Birmingham	5 Aug 1993
PW Sherwell	25y 138d	South Africa	v England	Johannesburg	2 Jan 1906
PBH May	25y 160d	England	v South Africa	Nottingham	9 Jun 1955
BRM Taylor	25y 179d	Zimbabwe	v Bangladesh	Harare	4 Aug 2011
SPD Smith	25y 198d	Australia	v India	Brisbane	17 Dec 2014
A Flower	25y 217d	Zimbabwe	v Pakistan	Karachi	1 Dec 1993
HB Cameron	25y 223d	South Africa	v England	Johannesburg	13 Feb 1931
RJ Shastri	25y 229d	India	v West Indies	Chennai	11 Jan 1988
CA Smith	25y 234d	England	v South Africa	Gqeberha	12 Mar 1889
Shoaib Malik	25y 242d	Pakistan	v South Africa	Karachi	1 Oct 2007
JM Parker	25y 252d	New Zealand	v Pakistan	Karachi	30 Oct 1976
Mashrafe Mortaza	25y 277d	Bangladesh	v West Indies	Kingstown	9 Jul 2009
AD Mathews	25y 279d	Sri Lanka	v Bangladesh	Galle	8 Mar 2013
Salman Butt	25y 287d	Pakistan	v Australia	Leeds	21 Jul 2010
PA de Silva	25y 309d	Sri Lanka	v England	Lord's	22 Aug 1991
Khaled Mashud	25y 313d	Bangladesh	v New Zealand	Hamilton	18 Dec 2001
WL Murdoch	25y 324d	Australia	v England	The Oval	6 Sep 1880
APF Chapman	25y 345d	England	v Australia	The Oval	14 Aug 1926
KS Williamson	25y 355d	New Zealand	v Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	28 Jul 2016

     

Full list of India Test captains
Player	Span	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	NR	W/L	%W	%L	%NR	%
AL Wadekar	1971-1974	16	4	4	0	8	0	1	25	25	-	50
V Kohli	2014-2022	68	40	17	0	11	0	2.35	58.82	25	-	70.17
NJ Contractor	1960-1962	12	2	2	0	8	0	1	16.66	16.66	-	50
SM Gavaskar	1976-1985	47	9	8	0	30	0	1.12	19.14	17.02	-	52.94
K Srikkanth	1989-1989	4	0	0	0	4	0	-	-	-	-	-
M Azharuddin	1990-1999	47	14	14	0	19	0	1	29.78	29.78	-	50
L Amarnath	1947-1952	15	2	6	0	7	0	0.33	13.33	40	-	25
MH Mankad	1955-1959	6	0	1	0	5	0	-	-	16.66	-	-
GS Ramchand	1959-1960	5	1	2	0	2	0	0.5	20	40	-	33.33
BS Bedi	1976-1978	22	6	11	0	5	0	0.54	27.27	50	-	35.29
JJ Bumrah	2022-2025	3	1	2	0	0	0	0.5	33.33	66.66	-	33.33
R Dravid	2003-2007	25	8	6	0	11	0	1.33	32	24	-	57.14
RG Sharma	2022-2024	24	12	9	0	3	0	1.33	50	37.5	-	57.14
MS Dhoni	2008-2014	60	27	18	0	15	0	1.5	45	30	-	60
N Kapil Dev	1983-1987	34	4	7	1	22	0	0.57	11.76	20.58	-	37.5
SR Tendulkar	1996-2000	25	4	9	0	12	0	0.44	16	36	-	30.76
SC Ganguly	2000-2005	49	21	13	0	15	0	1.61	42.85	26.53	-	61.76
CK Nayudu	1932-1934	4	0	3	0	1	0	-	-	75	-	-
MAK Pataudi	1962-1975	40	9	19	0	12	0	0.47	22.5	47.5	-	32.14
S Venkataraghavan	1974-1979	5	0	2	0	3	0	-	-	40	-	-
DB Vengsarkar	1987-1989	10	2	5	0	3	0	0.4	20	50	-	28.57
RJ Shastri	1988-1988	1	1	0	0	0	0	-	100	-	-	100
VS Hazare	1951-1953	14	1	5	0	8	0	0.2	7.14	35.71	-	16.66
Ghulam Ahmed	1955-1959	3	0	2	0	1	0	-	-	66.66	-	-
KL Rahul	2022-2022	3	2	1	0	0	0	2	66.66	33.33	-	66.66
AM Rahane	2017-2021	6	4	0	0	2	0	-	66.66	-	-	100
Vizianagram	1936-1936	3	0	2	0	1	0	-	-	66.66	-	-
GR Viswanath	1980-1980	2	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	50	-	-
PR Umrigar	1955-1958	8	2	2	0	4	0	1	25	25	-	50
A Kumble	2007-2008	14	3	5	0	6	0	0.6	21.42	35.71	-	37.5
Nawab of Pataudi	1946-1946	3	0	1	0	2	0	-	-	33.33	-	-
V Sehwag	2005-2012	4	2	1	0	1	0	2	50	25	-	66.66
P Roy	1959-1959	1	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	100	-	-
DK Gaekwad	1959-1959	4	0	4	0	0	0	-	-