So far, 15 Indian captains have been to Australia for Test matches. However, 13 of them failed to achieve a rare feat
From LalaAmarnath to Kapil Dev to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, Australia has witnessed 15 Indian captains with various squads on Australian soil for Test games. However, since 1947, when India visited Australia for the first time for a Test series, only two captains have managed to achieve this feat. The funny thing is that both the captains in question have only managed India for a few games, but they did the impossible.
India has played eight Test series on Australian soil since 1947 with 15 different captains at the helm. However, only two could guide India to a victory in the first game of a Test series. Out of the remaining 13, two captains, i.e., Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly, were able to secure a draw in their first BGT games in Australia.
Dev's captaincy has seen a draw against Australia in the first game of the 1985/1986 Test series at the Adelaide Oval. On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly's India side had secured a draw in Brisbane, the first game of the 2003/04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Not merely supreme captaincy, but the game also produced one of Ganguly's finest batting performances in Test as he scored 144 runs in 196 balls with 18 fours at a strike rate of 73.46.
Let us begin with the supremacy of 'Boom-Boom' Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah's captaincy in the first game in Perth saw India make an epic comeback to record a historic 295-run win over Australia.
While multiple reports, including the ICC, mentioned several records India broke and also about Bumrah's newfound achievements, they missed this one. Bumrah became only the second Indian captain to win the first game of a Test series on Australian soil.
Apart from this, he also became the second Asian captain to lead a team to a Test victory in Perth against Australia after Anil Kumble. He also equalled Kapil Dev's record of seven five-fors in Tests against SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia).
In Test format, Ajinkya Rahane has led India in six games, winning four and losing two, which includes the historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory on Australian soil in 2020/21.
Technically, Rahane should not be on this list because India lost the first game of the series in Adelaide that year. It was the game in which India was bundled for 36 runs in the second innings, and Australia won by eight wickets. However, in the first game, Virat Kohli was the captain, but he left the series due to personal reasons, leaving the charge of the team in Rahane's hands.
Therefore, the second game of the series became Rahane's first as a captain in BGT on the Australia soil, and he guided the team to an eight-wicket victory. The third match was a draw, whereas the fourth game in Brisbane was also won by India, scripting an epic comeback after the Adelaide horror show.
So, Bumrah and Rahane are the only two Indian captains to have won their first BGT games on Aussie soil.
