Stats: Players who featured in most games before captaining India in ODIs

As he walked out for the toss today at Dharamsala, Rohit Sharma became the 24th player to captain India in One-Day International cricket. Rohit made his ODI debut in 2007 against Ireland and he played a total of 171 ODIs before he was bestowed with the opportunity to captain the Men in Blue.

There is only one player who had to play more ODI games than Rohit before captaining the Indian ODI side and that was the legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble who was handed over the responsibility after representing India in 217 ODI matches.

The current Indian captain Virat Kohli led the team for the first time in his 105th ODI, whereas Sachin Tendulkar walked out as the Indian captain first in his 120th 50-over game. MS Dhoni, who is the most successful ODI skipper for the Men in Blue, didn’t have to wait for as long as these two as he led the Indian ODI side even before making a century of appearances.

There are certain other players who though earned the status of being legendary players for the country but were never given the privilege to lead the side during their careers. One of the biggest names is Yuvraj Singh who played an instrumental role in India’s triumph in the 2011 ODI World Cup. His contribution in the NatWest Series win in 2002 is unforgettable as well. And not just these two tournaments, Yuvraj has been behind many other ODI victories for the team.

The left-hander has featured for India in more than 300 ODI games and is still active in international cricket though out of favour. Thus there is virtually no chance that he will captain the team at this stage in his career.

Apart from Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, who formed the core group of the Indian ODI bowling line-up in the early 2000s and guided India to the finals of the tournaments like Champions Trophy 2002 and World Cup 2003, also were deprived of a captaincy opportunity despite playing substantial number of ODIs for India.

Players who featured in most games before captaining India in ODIs