R Ashwin To Yuvraj Singh: 5 Indian Legends Who Were Never Given Captaincy

An era ended in Indian cricket on Wednesday (December 18) when R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket after the Gabba Test match against Australia. The veteran all-rounder had decided to quit the game early in the series and he was convinced to play in Adelaide. Ashwin was benched for the Perth and Gabba Tests.

Ashwin ended his career as one of the legends of the game. He won a 50-over World Cup, a Champions Trophy title and multiple individual awards during his 14-year-long international career. While he achieved almost everything on the field, captaincy continued to elude Ashwin. As the cricketing fraternity celebrates Ashwin's career, here we have a look at 5 Indian legends who were never appointed captain -

R Ashwin was never appointed the captain or the vice-captain despite him being a regular in all three formats from 2011 to 2017. Virat Kohli was MS Dhoni's deputy and took over the job after his retirement.

Ashwin was ignored in 2017 as the former selection committee appointed Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane as Virat's deputies in white-ball and Test cricket, respectively. Ashwin did lead Punjab Kings (then known as Kings XI Punjab) in IPL 2018 and 2019.

Yuvraj Singh was India's vice-captain for a long time and looked set to be named the white-ball captain at one stage. But he was pipped by MS Dhoni. There was no looking back for Dhoni after he captained India to a title win in the 2007 T20 World Cup and Yuvraj remained his deputy. Virender Sehwag later replaced Yuvraj as India's vice-captain.

One of the most successful spinners to play for India, Harbhajan Singh never got to lead the national team. He was appointed the vice-captain for a series against West Indies in 2011 but never led the team. Harbhajan had a long international career and he won 2 white-ball World Cups before retiring.

VVS Laxman was one of the best batsmen in Test cricket and he saved his best for big matches against mighty Australia. Laxman finished his Test career with 8781 runs in 134 Tests. He never led Team India despite his success with the bat.

Cheteshwar Pujara filled in Rahul Dravid's shoes after his retirement and was India's consistent performer at number 3 from 2012 to 2022. But Pujara was never given captaincy. He was pipped by Ajinkya Rahane for vice-captaincy in Tests. Pujara did become vice-captain in a few Tests but didn't lead Team India. He is doing commentary in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

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