Ambati Rayudu Blind Ranks Indian Captains During ENG vs IND 2025; Virat Kohli Left Out of Top 3

Shubman Gill and his team are getting ready for one last challenge as they take on England in the IND vs ENG 5th Test at Kennington Oval, London. The match will start at 3:30 PM on Thursday. This is a must-win game for India to level the series 2-2 and avoid losing another overseas tour.

Meanwhile, during the tour, former batter Ambati Rayudu took part in a challenge on ESPNcricinfo where he blind-ranked former Indian captains. Surprisingly, he did not include big names like Kapil Dev and Virat Kohli in his top three.

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Rayudu Picks Dhoni as No. 1

Rayudu first ranked Sourav Ganguly, placing him at number three. Ganguly is known for changing the way Team India played cricket. After that, Rayudu placed Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, in fourth place.

Former T20I and Test captain Rohit Sharma was ranked second and made it to Rayudu's top three. He then placed Virat Kohli, India’s most successful Test captain, in fifth position. Rayudu added that Kohli’s ranking depends on the format and said that if it was only for Tests, Kohli would be in the top two. Mohammad Azharuddin was ranked sixth.

The last name that appeared was MS Dhoni, whom Rayudu ranked at number one. He said he had kept the top spot empty, hoping Dhoni’s name would come. Dhoni is the only Indian captain to win three ICC trophies – the T20 World Cup, the ODI World Cup, and the Champions Trophy.

Not one person did NOT see that coming 😄 pic.twitter.com/IP7p4Qc95y

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 31, 2025

India Look to End Series on a High in 5th Test at The Oval

After starting the series with a loss, India made a strong comeback with a historic win at Edgbaston. However, they lost the next match at Lord’s. Now, India will hope to take the positive energy from the drawn Manchester Test into the final match at The Oval.

England have already announced their playing XI for the IND vs ENG 5th Test, making four changes. Ben Stokes, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, and Brydon Carse have been left out. On the other hand, India made four changes to their playing XI. Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep, Karun Nair, and Prasidh Krishna came in place of Rishabh Pant, Anshul Kamboj, Shardul Thakur, and Jasprit Bumrah.