8 greatest Indian Test captains of all time

#4 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni led India to the No.1 position in the ICC Test Rankings

The boy with the golden spoon, the gambler, or the Midas himself – whatever adjective you choose to hail Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you cannot take away the purple patch that he brought to the team with his arrival. In the longest format of the game, Dhoni first rose to prominence during the team’s tour to Pakistan in 2005-06, scoring 179 runs from 3 Tests at 59.66.

His heroics in the ICC World T20 in 2007 wherein he led India to the title saw him being appointed as the captain of the limited-overs side. Soon, after the retirement of Anil Kumble in 2008, he was handed over the reins of the Test team as well.

Dhoni had a tough challenge to overcome in his first series as India’s captain, which was against England, immediately after the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. What unfolded in the Chennai Test of that series would still be fresh in an Indian cricket fan’s mind, wherein after a brutal assault by Virender Sehwag in the 3rd session of the 4th day, Sachin Tendulkar hit a famous century to hunt down the target of 387 runs and dedicated his hundred to the nation.

This emotional victory was only the beginning of a series of victories that continued for the next 6 years, as under Dhoni’s leadership, India lost just one Test series at home – against England in 2012. Barring South Africa, every other visiting Test nation was beaten by the Dhoni’s men and in the process, he led India to the numero uno position in the ICC Test rankings.

Australia were clean swept twice – 2-0 in 2010-11 and 4-0 in 2013 – while New Zealand were humbled in their own backyard in 2009.

However, as good as Dhoni's accomplishments were in India, his records outside India weren't anywhere close. Dhoni also saw the team being whitewashed in back to back away tours – against England (4-0) in 2011 and Australia (4-0) in 2011-12. The following tours to these nations were also lost – against England in 2014 (3-1) and against Australia in 2014-15 (2-0).

Dhoni nurtured the current crop of Indian cricketers as well as saw the blossoming of the batting heavyweights – in Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The likes of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin made their debuts under Dhoni and are now the heavyweights of the Indian Test team.

Harbhajan Singh reached 400 Test wickets, Gambhir became the No. 1 Test batsman in the ICC Rankings, and Tendulkar reached the milestone of 100 international hundreds under Dhoni.

However, these successes have taken a bit of the sheen away from the prime reason due to which Dhoni was picked to play for India in the first place - his wicket-keeping. Dhoni has the 5th highest number of dismissals in Tests by a wicket-keeper – 294 – which includes 256 catches and 38 stumpings.