In the history of Indian T20 cricket on the international level, the Indian team has delivered several young and talented T20 skippers. These players not only led the team but also achieved many incredible victories. Being a T20 captain at a small age, Indian young talent has shown that they are no more behind in skill and age does not matter in the game. Thus, they have successfully taken their team to a new level under their leadership.
List of Youngest Captain in T20 For India
Let’s take a deep look at some of the youngest T20 captains of India.
1. Suresh Raina (23 Years)
Suresh Raina at the age of 23 years and 197 days became the youngest captain of the Indian cricket team in the shortest format of the game on 12 Jun 2010. In the match against Zimbabwe when India went to Zimbabwe in 2010, Suresh Raina got the responsibility of captaincy where team India won the match by 6 wickets. Suresh Raina, who loved to bat in the middle order, has appeared in 78 T20I matches and has added 1605 runs from his 66 innings at the strike rate of 134.87.
2. Rishabh Pant (24 Years)
Rishabh Pant, the left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman, is in the number 2nd position for holding the record of the youngest T20 captain for India. He was appointed as a captain in a T20 match against South Africa in 2022, and thus he became the 2nd youngest captain of India in T20. In the five T20 matches series against South Africa, KL Rahul was named for the captaincy but he was injured so Pant took the place of Rahul. Rishabh Pant made his T20 debut against England at Bengaluru on February 01, 2017, since then he has played 46 T20I where he added 723 runs from 40 innings at the strike rate of 125.95.
3. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (26 Years)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the age of 26 years became the T20 captain of India and led the team India in T20 World Cup 2007. Under his leadership, the men in blue successfully achieved the victory in the final of the T20 World Cup 2007 against Pakistan and lifted the inaugural T20 World Championship trophy. Dhoni made his T20I debut against South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium on Dec 01, 2006, since then he has appeared in 98 T20I matches where he added 1617 runs from 85 innings at the strike rate of 126.13. He played his last T20I against Australia at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Feb 27, 2019.
4. Ajinkya Rahane (27 Years)
At the age of 27 years, the right-handed batsman of the Indian team became the captain of T20I in 2015 and thus was listed at the number 4th position in the list of the youngest T20I captains of India. He has never been a permanent captain for India but he has successfully led the team in all formats of the game on a temporary basis.
5. Virendra Sehwag (28 Years)
The former right-handed opening batter of India became the T20I captain at the age of 28 years and is at the number 4th position in the list of the youngest T20 captains for India. He made his debut in T20I against South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium, on Dec 01, 2006, and also became the first captain of the Indian T20 squad in 2006. He did not have a long journey in T20 international and he played only 19 T20 where he made 394 runs from 18 innings at the strike rate of 145.39.