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Shubman Gill made his captaincy debut in the first Test against England at Headingley in Leeds. India made a good start in the contest as they reached 359-3 at stumps on Day 1 after being asked to bat first. Gill notched up a hundred in his first match as Test captain before eventually being dismissed for 147 on Day 2.
Despite Gill's heroics and hundreds from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and Rishabh Pant (134), India suffered a shocking batting collapse. They went from 430-3 to 471 all out, losing seven wickets for 41 runs. In response, England did well to post 465 despite Jasprit Bumrah's five-fer as Ollie Pope scored 106 and Harry Brook 99.
Second-innings hundreds from KL Rahul (137) and Pant (118) lifted India. However, the visitors suffered another batting collapse. They lost six wickets for 31 runs to slip from 333-4 to 364 all out. Chasing 371, England won the contest by five wickets as Ben Duckett scored a brilliant 149.
Despite impressing with the bat, Gill's Test captaincy tenure began with a loss. On that note, we look at five other popular Indian cricketers who also lost their first Test match as captain.
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi played 46 Test matches and led India in 40 of them. Under his leadership, India won nine matches and lost 19, while 12 games ended in a draw. Under him, India registered their first overseas Test win in 1967 in New Zealand and also went on to win the series 3-1.
Pataudi made his Test captaincy debut against West Indies in Bridgetown in March 1962. The visitors were hammered by an innings and 30 runs in the contest. Sent into bat, India were all out for 258. West Indies replied with 475 to take a big lead. India's batting struggled in the second innings as well. They were all out for 187 despite half-centuries from Dilip Sardesai and Vijay Manjrekar.
Mohammad Azharuddin
Mohammad Azharuddin led India in 47 matches as captain, winning 14 matches and losing as many, while 19 matches ended in a draw. In terms of Test wins, he is fourth on the list of India's most successful captains.
Azharuddin made his captaincy debut in Christchurch in the first Test during the tour of New Zealand in 1990. The Kiwis won the match by 10 wickets. New Zealand posted 459 after winning the toss and batting first. John Wright, who would later go on to coach India, top-scored with 185.
In response, India crumbled to 164 all-out as Navjot Sidhu top-scored with 51, while Azharuddin made 48. Following on, India were bowled out for 296 despite WV Raman's 96. New Zealand needed two runs to win, which they got in five balls.
Kapil Dev
Under Kapil Dev, India won the 1983 ODI World Cup, defeating the mighty West Indies in the final at Lord's. However, the Haryana Hurricane did not have an impressive record as Test captain. He led India in 34 Test matches, winning only four and losing seven, while 22 matches ended in a draw.
Kapil's first Test as captain was against West Indies in Kingston in February 1983. India lost the close contest by four wickets. Sent into bat, India were all out for 251 as Yashpal Sharma (63) and Balwinder Sandhu (68) hit fifties. Kapil and Ravi Shastri claimed four wickets each as West Indies were held to 254.
In their second innings, though, India crumbled to 174 all out as Andy Roberts picked up 5-39. Set a target of 172, the Windies got home in 25.2 overs despite Kapil's four-fer as Viv Richards smashed 61 off 36 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah
Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has captained India in three Tests, winning one and losing two. His first Test as captain was against England in Birmingham in July 2022. The visitors dominated the Test match for most part, yet ended up losing the contest by seven wickets.
Sent into bat, India put up 416 on the board as Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) hit tons, while Bumrah smacked 31* off 16. England were bowled out for 284 in response as India's bowlers shared the spoils. The hosts, however, hit back to bowl out India for 245. Chasing 378, England got home courtesy of unbeaten hundreds from Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*).
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is India's most successful captain in Test cricket. He led the country in 68 matches, winning 40 Tests and losing only 17, while 11 matches ended in a draw. His first Test as captain was against Australia in Adelaide in December 2014. India fought hard in the contest but went down by 48 runs.
Batting first, Australia scored 517-7 declared as three batters hit tons. India responded with 444 as Kohli led from the front with 115, while Cheteshwar Pujara (73) and Ajinkya Rahane (62) also made handy contributions.
Australia declared their second innings on 290-5, setting the visitors a challenging target of 364. At one stage, India were well placed at 242-2. However, they crumbled to 315 all out as Nathan Lyon claimed seven wickets. Kohli's fantastic 141 and Murali Vijay's 99 went in vain.
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Edited by Renin Wilben Albert
English (US)