In the arena of Test cricket, captaincy is considered to be a giant task, All the more to have the success with bat and at the same time take the load of captaincy is really a hard task.
There are very few Indian cricketers who are in the league of 1000 Test runs as captains in a minimum number of innings. India’s new Test captain, Shubman Gill, has already bypassed this feat in a comparatively shorter duration and hence has been able to join the greats in a prestigious list.
At this juncture, let us revisit the top 5 batters who needed the least innings to become the captain and score 1000 international runs.
All-Time Fastest Indian Captains to Reach 1000 Test Runs
5. Sourav Ganguly – 22 innings
Sourav Ganguly, who was a legend for his aggressive captaincy, did 1000 international runs as a captain in 22 matches. Over the course of his captaincy in all formats, he made more than 7500 runs along with 16 hundreds. Ganguly’s way of leading players was so intense that it made one generation of cricketers; besides he is always remembered as the one who changed the face of Indian cricket during early 2000s.
4. Rohit Sharma – 20 innings
The iconic player Rohit Sharma got to score 1000 runs as Indian captain in just 20 innings. Overall in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, Rohit laced with good batting, scored 5665 runs as a captain combined with 12 centuries.
His elevation as an opener was a turning point in his career, and he turned out to be one of the most aggressive batters of India. Though he has retired from Test and T20I formats, still, Rohit has carved a special place in fans’ hearts.
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3. Shubman Gill – 17 innings
The latest addition to this list is Shubman Gill, the young genius, who could do this in 17 innings only. Gill, who was made the Test captain in June 2025, scored 754 runs in just the 5-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and that was the half of his total of runs.
In the West Indies tour, Gill managed to score a century once more and thus, besides the hat-trick of centuries, he also celebrated the milestone of 1000 international runs as captain in only 17 innings. He is already almost 1000 runs in Tests only as a skipper, and this can put him alongside the great Sir Don Bradman.
2. Mohammad Azharuddin – 16 innings
The colorful and exquisite former star, Mohammad Azharuddin, made it to the 1000 runs mark as captain in 16 innings. He led the Indian team altogether in 221 international games, making 8095 runs with 14 centuries.
Azharuddin overtook the team’s woe, and trouble, of the 1980s and 1990s with his intuitive steady and strategical mind which was the very reason why the team won the turn of times. Though Azharuddin’s captaincy has been marred by controversy over match-fixing, his on-field contribution looms large.
1. Sunil Gavaskar & Virat Kohli – 15 innings
Sunil Gavaskar, the all-time Indian cricket legend, was the first one to achieve the milestone of a 1000 international runs as captain in just 15 innings. Besides his technique and calmness, the bar he set for the future captain was already high with his standards.
In the present time, the modern-day king of cricket, Virat Kohli, managed to equal this record with over 12,000 runs as Indian captain, 41 hundreds, and a highest score of 254 in Tests. Kohli’s style of play that is aggressive and consistent has earned him the tag of one among the most successful Indian captains.
