Polly Umrigar quit as India captain in the 1958-59 home series against West Indies due to a selection dispute © Cricinfo Ltd.

Makarand Waingankar, writing in the Hindu, looks back at some of the controversial captaincy-related incidents in Indian cricket.

The captaincy of the Indian cricket team is a jigsaw puzzle. It is also a facet that is guaranteed to create suspense and debate.

Hardly had Ajit Wadekar returned home, he was besieged by waiting journalists for his comments as he had dethroned captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi for the West Indies tour of 1971. He was too shocked to react.

Earlier in the 1958-59 home series against the West Indies, it was a merry-go-round when four captains were appointed for a five-Test match series.

Of the four, Polly Umrigar quit on the morning of the Madras Test when he received a telegram from Ratibhai Patel, the then president of the BCCI, asking him to play off-spinner Jasu Patel instead of opening batsman AK Sengupta, who was Umrigar’s choice, as the team needed a batsman. Eventually Sengupta played, but Vinoo Mankad led the team.