Gautam Gambhir picks Anil Kumble over MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli as India's best ever captain

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir is known for his blunt remarks which usually don’t go down well with fans. Gambhir, who was known for his ‘in your face’ attitude during his playing days, carries the same personality off the field as well and doesn’t refrain from speaking his brain. Recently, the two-time World Cup winner made heads turn as he chose the best-ever captain of the Indian cricket team.

During an interview, Gambhir picked Anil Kumble as India’s best-ever captain over MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev. The former opener has also revealed his fondness for Kumble’s captaincy previously as well.

The Delhi-born cricketer was put in the spot during a rapid-fire round on Bada Bharat Show with Vivek Bindra on his Youtube Channel. Gambhir was given the tough task of choosing from some of the greatest captains of the Indian team such as Kohli, Dhoni, Ganguly and Kapil Dev. However, much to everyone’s surprise, he ignored them all and picked legendary wrist spinner Anil Kumble.

Notably, Kumble was handed over India’s Test captaincy duties in 2007 and went on to lead the team in 14 matches in the longest format. However, the Bangalore-born cricketer didn’t have a memorable run as captain as the team won three matches out of 14 and lost five while six ended in a draw.

Kumble is fourth highest wicket-taker in international cricket

The legendary cricketer was India’s captain during the infamous Australian tour of 2007-08 where he openly called out Australia for not playing within the spirit of the game during the controversial Sydney Test. Kumble finished his career as the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket with 619 scalps to his name from 132 matches at an average of 29.65.

His tally was surpassed by England seamer James Anderson in 2021 who now sits on the third spot. Kumble further ranks on the fourth spot in the list of most wickets in international cricket with 956 scalps from 403 games.