Southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, who has played 34 Tests, 145 ODIs and 65 T20s is all set to lead the second string side of Team India in Srilanka. Notably, the Indian opener will be leading the men in blue for the first time. The left-handed batsman appeared in international cricket in the year 2010 and after 11 years Dhawan has earned the prefix of a skipper.
However, there is a beeline of players who have registered appearances in over 250+ matches but never had the opportunity to lead the team from the front. Many times they were close but captaincy remained yet so far for them.
1) Yuvraj Singh
The former stylish left-handed batsman who played a pivotal role in the T20 world cup and ODI world cup victory was never given an opportunity to lead the Indian cricket team. Recently in an interview, he stated that captaincy will be offered to him before T20 WC but MS Dhoni was the first choice for the selectors
His career spanned 19 years after he made his debut in the ICC KnockOut Trophy in Kenya.
The 41-year-old last represented India in June 2017 and bows out with 8701 runs from 304 ODIs at 36.55 with 14 hundred and 52 fifties.
He played 40 Tests in which he scored 1900 runs at 33.92 with three centuries while in 58 T20Is he amassed 1177 runs at 28.02 with 8 half-centuries
2) Zaheer Khan
Once a spearhead of the Indian bowling lineup and contemporary of Yuvraj Singh, the left-handed bowler Zaheer Khan played under many captains but never became a leader. First Zaheer Khan helped team India to surge into the finals of ICC 2003 ODI world cup and later in the winning cause after 8 years. In every ODI WC appearance, he ended up at the top spots in the wickets tally for Team India.
In 200 ODIs Zaheer scalped 282 wickets at an average of 29.4. He also played 42 Tests and 17 T20Is. His bowling inspired the next generation but he was never considered even an option for the captaincy.
3) Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan is not yet retired but last played ODI for India in 2016, In his 236 outings in blue clothing, Bhajji has taken 269 wickets. The 40-year-old has played 103 Tests with his final game coming in 2015. Despite playing 17 years in Blue clothing Harbhajan Singh was neither looked at as future captain nor desired to lead team India.
Popularly known as turbanator, Harbhajan Singh was among the young chap of yuvi and zak. He was the one who led India to the famous test series victory over Aussies in the absence of Anil Kumble in year 2000-2001. Possibly due to his impulsive behaviour displayed on the ground kept him away from the captaincy radar.
4) Javagal Srinath
All those born in the 90's must remember the inswing deliveries of Javagal Srinath. Popularly known as Mysore Express Javagal Srinath played under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin a lot. Even due to the lacklustre performance of the team he was never the first choice for captaincy.
Javagal Srinath played 229 ODIs and grabbed 315 wickets. While in red-ball cricket Srinath took 236 wickets in merely 67 tests.
5) Ravindra Jadeja
The top-ranked test allrounder Ravindra Jadeja who helped India lift the last ICC trophy (2013) has never become a skipper. In the coming years, his chance of leading team India is also scant as Rohit Sharma and now Shikhar Dhawan will be the next choice for selectors.
As he constantly played under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the major chunk of international cricket and IPL, Jadeja remained aloof from the idea of captaincy.
Despite having 250+ international cricket appearances these 5 cricketers never became a captain.
