India vs New Zealand: Watch Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and other captains being felicitated before 500th Test

Kanpur: Former captains including Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev were felicitated by the BCCI before the start of India’s 500th Test on Thursday. On the occasion, Uttar Pradesh governor presented mementos and shawl to former captains before the start of the first Test between India and New Zealand. [caption id=“attachment_3015812” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Former Indian Test cricket captains and other dignitaries on the occasion of India’s 500th Test match against New Zealand. PTI[/caption] Besides Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Dhoni and Kapil, the other former India Test captains who were honoured were Ajit Wadekar, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, K Srikkanth and Mohammad Azharuddin. Current captain Virat Kohli and too was honoured. Apart from inviting all its former men’s Test captains, the Indian cricket board also invited all Test skippers from the women’s team. The former captains were honoured with a shawl, a memento and a coin with the words “500th Test” written on it. Conspicuous by their absence, former India captains Bishan Singh Bedi and Gundappa Viswanath were reportedly not invited by the BCCI for the historic 500th Test match. The 69-year-old Bedi has led India in 22 Tests while Viswanath has captained in two Tests. India played its inaugural Test in June 1932 against England at the iconic Lord’s ground. A total of 285 players have played Test cricket for India in which they had 32 captains starting from C.K. Nayudu to Virat Kohli and will join England (976), Australia (791) and West Indies (517) in reaching the 500 mark. IPL chief Rajeev Shukla and BCCI president Anurag Thakur were part of the function. A dinner was organised yesterday night in the honour of captains and it was also attended by the Indian team.

(With inputs from agencies)