Rating India's Top 5 Teams Of All Time

Indian cricket has produced some great teams over the years. While India expectedly struggled in the first few decades after gaining Test status...

- Renin Wilben

While India expectedly struggled in the first few decades after gaining Test status, they were beginning to make an impact in international cricket by the late 60s.

Indian cricket has produced some great teams over the years. While India expectedly struggled in the first few decades after gaining Test status, they were beginning to make an impact in international cricket by the late 60s. Led by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, they registered their maiden away Test win in Dunedin in 1968. That’s not all, India created history again by winning the series 3-1. In 1971, Ajit Wadekar led India to famous Test series wins in West Indies and England. Indian cricket was never the same again. In his feature, we rank the Top 5 Indian teams of all time.

5. DRAVID’S SOLDIERS

Rahul Dravid was Team India captain for a short period of time, but he achieved quite a lot even in that phase. Dravid took over from Sourav Ganguly in the midst of the Dada-Greg Chappell saga and brought much-needed stability to the team. Dravid captained India in 25 Tests, out of which India won eight and lost six, while 11 matches were drawn. India famously won a Test series in England in 2007. No other Indian captain has achieved the feat since. In ODIs, Dravid led India in 79 games, out of which the team won 42 and lost 33. The other games produced no result. The Dravid-Chappell combo saw India record 16 consecutive successful chases.

However, The Wall’s tenure also saw India crashing out of the 2007 World Cup in the first stage, one of the darkest chapters in India’s cricket history.