Indian Captaincy is a prestigious position. With the volume of cricket and sometimes the scenario of two Indian Teams being on two different continents, the prestigious role as been on constant move. While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma is the designated skipper, injuries and rest has caused India to give chances to other players as leaders. Since July 2021, India has been using up to eight leaders.

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is the first to don the armband on a stand-in basis. With the main Indian team in England, the side that toured Sri Lanka for a Limited-overs series last July was led by Shikhar Dhawan. As a leader, Dhawan did a pretty good job. He won the ODI series, but the T20I series in Sri Lanka is a little unfortunate. Due to a covid outbreak India’s batting ended up depleted, and that caused India to lose a T20I series in the absence of a competitive batting line-up. Now, Shikhar Dhawan is back as the leader, which is why India is back to square one. He is going to lead in the West Indies series with Ravindra Jadeja, another new leader, as his deputy.

Virat Kohli

Kohli gave up white-ball captaincy after the T20 World Cup but led across formats up until then. He continued in Tests, his best format as leader until a series loss in South Africa prompted him to step down. The last year is often seen as a transition period from Virat Kohli the leader to Virat Kohli the player. Seven Tests and Five T20Is, in the World Cup, is his record as skipper over the last year.

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Rohit Sharma

With Virat Kohli stepping down as leader in phases, Rohit Sharma slowly came in as India’s all-format skipper. He has been in the role for a good seven months, but with injuries and scheduling, Rohit Sharma is unavailable to take up the role consistently. He led in the Test series against Sri Lanka and a handful of white-ball games but is still yet to stamp his authority as India’s all-format skipper.

Ajinkya Rahane

The last three years have seen Ajinkya Rahane peak and fall. He was the leader when India completed a famous series victory in Australia, but fell away in the coming months. Despite falling in performance though, Ajinkya Rahane took part in the captaincy roulette. With Virat Kohli resting, Ajinkya Rahane was given a chance to lead the side against New Zealand in one of the two Tests. His form though continued to tail away and now Ajinkya Rahane is completely off the radar, fighting to make a comeback.

KL Rahul

With Rohit Sharma out, KL Rahul was given the vice-captaincy. Over the period, KL Rahul ended up with the prestigious role of India’s Test Captain as well. With Virat Kohli sitting out due to a back injury in the second South African Test, Rahul’s leadership came into play. He continued to lead the side in the one-day series as well with Rohit Sharma out injured. Unfortunately, a sports hernia is preventing KL Rahul from playing. If fit, he may have taken the captaincy role in the Final Test against England as well, but is unfortunate to miss out.

Rishabh Pant

Along with KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant is a potential future leader. However, with Rahul not playing, Rishabh Pant was given his chance at leadership. He captained India in their five T20Is against Sri Lanka. As a captain, Rishabh Pant didn’t look convincing at first, but fell into the role decently. Additionally, Rishabh Pant took part as vice-captain in the England Test, with Rohit Sharma injured.

Hardik Pandya

After leading Gujarat beautifully, Hardik Pandya is in the race for a leadership role in the future. He is bowling again and is batting responsibly too. With Hardik Pandya stepping up as leader, he received his own chance in the Ireland series. He led the team in two T20Is, winning the series and also leading the side well in a high-pressure second T20.

Jasprit Bumrah

The latest name on the captaincy list is Jasprit Bumrah. Coming into the final Test, Rahul is unavailable and the vice-captaincy goes to Jasprit Bumrah. With Rohit going down to Covid, Jasprit Bumrah’s elevation to captaincy was on the cards. He was announced as captain and became India’s first fast bowling captain since Kapil Dev did the job. As a captain, he had his moments but still couldn’t prevent England from completing a monstrous chase.

With the roulette going on, India is back to where it was a year ago. Shikhar Dhawan is in as leader again. With a high volume of cricket to come though, it is interesting to see how many other players are to take leadership roles in the coming months.