The game of cricket may have originated in England but we Indians are currently performing spectacularly well in all the formats and are at the peak of our play. Everyone is aware of the marvels of the Indian cricket team in the recent times, however, there have also been many players of Indian origin who have showcased their talent while representing other nations.
Players like Monty Panesar (England), Ish Sodhi (New Zealand), Shiv Narayan Chadrapaul (West Indies) and Gurinder Sandhu (Australia) have already made their name in the international cricket while there have been other players who have gone onto becoming captains.
Here we list 5 such Indian-origin cricketers who have led other nations in international matches:
1. Rohan Kanhai – West Indies
Rohan Kanhai, West Indies’ first ODI captain/ Photo: guyana-cricket.com
During the 70s, the West Indies cricket team was one of the best teams in international cricket with players that went onto becoming legends. In that era, Indian-origin Rohan Kanhai led the West Indies team in 13 Test matches between 1972/73 and 1973/74 seasons. During his stint as the captain, the team won 3 Tests and drew 7 games. He made his debut in 1957 and went onto play 79 Test matches, totaling a score of 6000 runs. He was also the first ODI captain of the West Indies cricket team.
The last Test he played as West Indies’s captain was against England at Port of Spain on April 5, 1974.
2. Hashim Amla – South Africa
Hashim Amla hails from a Gujarat based family/ Photo: Indian Express
Touted as one of the leading openers of the South African cricket team, Hashim Amla hails from a Gujarat-based family. Amla has been playing phenomenal cricket for his team and has been a major scorer across all the formats. Amla has led the Proteas in 14 Tests, losing 4 and winning the same number of matches. He has also led the team in 9 ODIs and 2 T20Is. As per the stats, Amla is the 33rd Test captain and 10th ODI captain of South Africa.
He debuted in 2004 in a Test match against India. Till now he has played 107 Tests and 156 ODIs where he has scored a total of 8,281 and 7,186 runs respectively.
3. Nasser Hussain – England
Nasser Hussain, 72nd Test captain of England/ Photo: Skysports.com
One of the most successful captains of the English cricket team, Nasser Hussain was born in Chennai on 28 March, 1968. He made his debut in international cricket in 1989 in an ODI match against Pakistan.
In 1999, Hussain succeeded Michael Atherton and became the 72nd Test captain of England. During his stint as the captain, England played 45 Tests and 56 ODIs. The team won 17 Tests and 28 ODIs under his reign, which include a number of victories on foreign soil as well. He played 96 Tests and 88 ODIs scoring a total of 5,764 and 2,332 runs respectively.
He played his last Test against New Zealand in 2004, after which he became a full-time commentator with the Sky Sports.
4. Ashish Bagai – Canada
Ashish Bagai, former captain of Canada/ Photo: dayhairstyle.blogspot.in
Born in New Delhi, the wicket-keeper/batsman skippered the national cricket team of Canada for 6 years. Ashish made his debut in 2003 against Bangladesh and played 62 ODIs and 9 T20Is.
From 2007 to 2013, Ashish led the Canadian cricket team in 27 ODI and 4 T20I matches. The team won 8 ODI matches under his captaincy while they managed to win just one game in the T20 format.
Ashish captained the Canada team for the last time in the qualifiers for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.
5. Aasif Karim – Kenya
Aasif Karim, former captain of Kenya/ Photo: Cricwizz
From the 1996 World Cup, Indian-origin Aasif Karim captained the Kenyan Cricket Team for quite a long period of time. Aasif hails from an Indian community settled in Mombasa, Kenya. He led Kenya in 21 ODIs including the 1999 ICC World Cup. Under his captaincy, the Kenyan team won 6 matches and lost 15.
Aasif announced his retirement after the 1999 World Cup, however, he was called back to play in the 2003 World Cup held in South Africa, where the team reached the semi-finals for the first time. Though they lost the game against India, Karim baffled the Aussies with his bowling and collected the Man of the Match honour.
2003 World Cup semi-final was the last match of his international career.
With Indians dominating the game of cricket world over, it’ll be interesting to see if any of the lesser known nations can again shine on the world stage under their captaincy.
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