List of all captains in Indian Football Team’s history
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India’s tryst with football first began way back in 1924, under the British regime with a team consisting of both Indians and Englishmen. Since then, the Indian football team endured an upward rising curve with the zenith coming in the early 1950s and 60s when India were regulars in major footballing events across the country.
Given the start, India had made in the initial stages of its development as a country and after its independence, football has not been able to reach the level it was supposed to in a country of more than a billion. However, it was not for the want of trying as we have produced some world-class footballers.
In this article, we look at some of the leaders of Indian football, who had the distinction of leading the country at any given point in their careers.
List of all captains in Indian Football Team
Gostha Pal
Gostha Pal was the very first captain of the Indian national side, playing in the 1920s and 1930s. he used to play as a centre back and continues to be extremely famous all over the country, especially in West Bengal where he played most of his football after coming into Kolkata from Bangladesh as a kid. Gostha Pal retired from football in 1935.
Talimeren Ao
The first-ever captain of independent India, Talimeren Ao used to play as a striker during his football career. He captained India to their maiden tournament after independence in the summer Olympics of 1948. Talimemeren Ao’s importance and impact on Indian football will continue to be unparalleled. He later went on to study medicine and became a reputed physician.
Sailen Manna
One of Bengal and India’s proudest sons, Sailen Manna was considered one of the best defenders during his footballing days. Manna played between 1948-1956 making 14 appearances during the time. He captained India to their first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games in 1951 and also won the quadrangular tournament for four consecutive years between 1952-1956.
PK Banerjee
PK Banerjee played as a striker during his footballing days, between 1955-1966. Banerjee scored 15 goals in his 45 matches and was handed the honour of captaining the side in the 1960 Summer Olympics and also scored the equalizing goal against France in a 1-1 draw.
Prasun Banerjee
Prasun Banerjee followed his brother PK Banerjee’s footsteps to become a footballer and played for India between 1974-1985. He played a total of 49 matches for the Blues while donning the armband in five matches among them.
Chuni Goswami
One of India’s finest ever sportsmen, Chuni Goswami has a unique distinction of playing both football and cricket at the national level. As a footballer, he represented India for 50 matches, in a career that spanned close a decade from 1956-64. It was during his stint as captain, that the Indian side won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 1962 and the silver at the Asia Cup two years later. The legendary footballer, unfortunately, left for heavenly abode in 2020, after a prolonged illness at the age of 82.
Shabbir Ali
Shabbir Ali is arguably one of the best strikers to have played for India, and was often regarded as the best during his playing career. He scored 23 goals in his 72 appearances at the international level, and also captained the side for a few matches.
Inder Singh
Inder Singh was a centre forward for India and played from 1962-75. He captained the side for the first time in 1969, before being named the skipper for the second time in 1973.
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Jarnail Singh
Jarnail Singh played as a centre back and captained the Indian side from 1965 to 1967. He received the Arjuna Award in 1964, and was one of the players to have represented the country in the 19060 Summer Olympics.
Mohammed Habib
Mohammed Habib played as a striker for Indi from 1965-75 and also captained the side during that period. His club football career saw him play for all of the three big clubs of Kolkata- Mohammedan, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
Syed Nayeemuddin
Syed Nayeemuddin played for India between the years- 1964-1971. He captained India at the Asian Games in 1970 and led his side to the Bronze medal. Additionally, he is also the only sportsperson to have won both the Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya award. After his playing career, he even coached the Indian football team and won the SAFF Cup in 1997.
Gurdev Singh Gill
Gurdev Singh Gill played for the Blue Tigers for 10 years, making a total of 109 appearances and also scored 10 goals. He captained the side in the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.
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Brahmanand Sankhwalkar
Brahmanand Sankhwalkar played as a goalkeeper for the Indian side and became the first-ever goalkeeper to captain the side in 1983. He captained the side for 2 years and was later named the player of the decade from 1985-95 by AIFF. He was also awarded the Arjuna award by the Government of India in 1997.
VP Sathyan
The former Indian centre back, VP Sathyan was one of the most influential footballers of the 90s era and captained India between 1991 and 1995. His biggest achievement as captain of the Indian side was winning the Gold medal at the SAFF Games 1995. He made 80 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Bhaichung Bhutia
India’s second-highest goalscorer, Bhaichug Bhutia shouldered the captaincy duties for a majority of his footballing career after he was first named captain in 1998. He scored 40 goals in 104 appearances and also won India the SAFF Cup and two Nehru Cup titles during his captaincy tenure.
Subrata Paul
Subrata Paul captained India for a handful of matches, after being awarded the armband in 2015 during the World Cup qualifiers. The goalkeeper captained India to a second-round finish that year, and his last appearance in national colours came in 2017.
Sunil Chhetri
India’s premier goal-scoring forward Sunil Chhetri was first named captain in 2012. The man for the record book has continued in the role ever since. He has 80 international goals to his name and is ranked 5th, level with Lionel Messi in the list of players with the most international goals. At 37-years of age, the forward has shown no signs of slowing down.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
The goalkeeper was initially made captain of the Indian team in 2016 during a friendly encounter against Puerto Rico, by Stephen Constantine. India went on to win the match by a massive margin of 4-1. Sandhu has since then made a total of 48 appearances for his national side and continues to be the number 1 goalkeeper in the side.
Sandesh Jinghan
The Indian centre-back was handed the armband by former coach Stephen Constantine in 2017. He made his captaincy debut for the Blue Tigers in a friendly encounter against Mauritius and then once again against St. Kitts. He continues to be a choice for the captain of the Indian team in the absence of Sunil Chhetri.
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