Remembering India's Bowling Captains

5. Ravi Shashtri –

Shastri captained the team in only 1 Test, and won one.

Built in the same swashbuckling mold as Kapil Dev, Shastri started off as a left-arm spinner, but gradually transformed into a batting all-rounder. From a tail-ender, he moved his way up the order to become the opening batsman for India.

The dashing 6”3 all-rounder was in the purple patch of his career during the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. India won the tournament and Shastri was declared ‘Champion of Champions (Man of the Series)’, for which he won an Audi 100. He continued his role of the Vice captain after Vengasarkar replaced Kapil Dev, but got the opportunity to lead India in a test when Vengasarkar fractured his arm. Similarly, he captained India in two ODI series, when Vengasarkar was banned by the BCCI for six months for writing a newspaper column.

Test

Matches	Won	Lost	Draw
1	1	-	-

ODI

Matches	Won	Lost	Draw
11	4	7	0