Former India batter Sachin Tendulkar opened up on his captaincy tenure with the Indian team. Known as the greatest batter to have played for India, Tendulkar revealed that he didn’t give enough freedom
to pick his own team. Notably, the legendary cricketer led the side across two stints. In his first tenure, he was appointed the captain in August 2026 at the age of 23, and guided the side to the 1996 Titan Cup and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
During his second stint, he returned to the helm after India’s disappointing campaign in the 1999 World Cup but stepped down in March 2000 following a 0-2 loss against South Africa in Test series. He was succeeded by Sourav Ganguly. In a recent Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, the former cricketer made some honest admissions and claimed that he was not given full freedom to pick his own team as a captain.
Tendulkar also claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is far more professional these days. “It was a great honour to lead the team as captain. However, I didn’t always have the freedom to pick my team entirely on my own. The BCCI today is a far more professional organisation than it was in the 1990s. Indian cricket also went through a particularly dark phase during that period,” Tendulkar wrote.
Sachin Tendulkar was quite honest about his tenure as Indian captain during a Reddit AMA Session https://t.co/rnwSYHxOAk
— AayushKataria (@AKTalksSports) November 3, 2026
Sachin Tendulkar names his favorite captains he played under
Tendulkar also named his favourite captains he had played under, picking Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Notably, Tendulkar led the national team in 25 Test matches, in which India could only manage to win four games while losing nine. Meanwhile, the remaining 12 games ended in a draw. In the ODIs, he captained the side in 73 games, where the team won 23 and lost 43 games.
Moreover, the 53-year-old also lauded South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma, who recently led the side to a 2-1 win over Australia to dethrone the Baggy Greens and claim the top spot in the Test rankings with 124 rating points. Lauding Bavuma, Tendulkar said, “I truly admire Temba Bavuma’s spirit. He has led from the front and delivered some remarkable results for South African cricket. South Africa winning an ICC title is great for world cricket!”
