Kapil Dev currently holds the record for the lowest batting average as an Indian captain. He has averaged just 31.72. This performance places him second on the all-time list of Test captains with the lowest averages in a season.
In comparison, here are the batting averages of some other notable Indian captains who have played a minimum of 20 Tests:
| 1. | Kapil Dev | 31.72 |
| 2. | Rohit Sharma | 32.42 |
| 3. | Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi | 34.14 |
| 4. | Sourav Ganguly | 37.66 |
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma currently holds the record for the lowest batting average as an Indian captain in a single season. As of the 2024/25 season, he has averaged just 11.83 runs per innings scoring 142 runs in 12 innings. This performance places him second on the all-time list of Test captains with the lowest averages in a season, just behind New Zealand’s Jeff Crowe, who averaged 11.80 runs in the 1987/88 season.
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, known as one of India’s most notable cricket captains, has the distinction of having one of the lowest batting averages as a captain in Test cricket. Specifically, during the 1974 series against the West Indies, Pataudi played five matches and scored only 85 runs, resulting in a batting average of 34.14. This performance places him among the Indian captains with the lowest averages in home Test series where a minimum of five innings were played.
Also Read: Most Centuries for India since 2020
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly holds the fourth lowest batting average among Indian Test captains, with a batting average of 37.66 across his captaincy tenure, which spanned 49 matches and 75 innings, where he scored a total of 2,561 runs.
Rohit’s performance has come under scrutiny due to his recent low scores and the team’s disappointing results in crucial matches.
