5 great players who did not prove to be good captains

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar

Cricket is a game where a lot of things depend on the captain of a side. In no other sport is a captain so influencing on the field. In cricket, a captain makes all the calls, decides the bowlers, sets the field and makes all the decisions. In short, a captain in cricket is the leader of the side.

If we look at the history of the game, there have been some great skippers like Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Smith, MS Dhoni. They all had extraordinary leadership skills and took their teams to altogether new heights.

Captaincy in cricket demands a lot out of you mentally and physically and it’s not necessary if you are a great cricketer, then you’ll be a good captain as well. It was the case with many such cricketers who had outstanding cricketing skills but when they were asked to lead, they didn’t blossom as much.

Here are 5 such cricketers who could not prove to be good captains

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

It’s quite rare to see the great man’s name on a list that is talking about failures. But there couldn’t be a better example of a player having out of this world cricketing prowess and a poor captaincy record. Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the best batsman of all time having topped all the charts of batting records and having scored the unthinkable 100 international centuries.

But when it came to leading the side, his record is exactly opposite to his batting stats. Having led the Indian team in 25 Tests, he tasted victories on only 4 occasions and from 73 ODIs, team India won only 23 times under his leadership. He had 2 spells of captaincies and after poor results on both occasions, he ended up leaving the role both times.

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Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Cricket is a game where a lot of things depend on the captain of a side. In no other sport is a captain so influencing on the field. In cricket, a captain makes all the calls, decides the bowlers, sets the field and makes all the decisions. In short, a captain in cricket is the leader of the side. If we look at the history of the game, there have been some great skippers like Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Graeme Smith, MS Dhoni. They all had extraordinary leadership skills and took their teams to altogether new heights. Captaincy in cricket demands a lot out of you mentally and physically and it's not necessary if you are a great cricketer, then you'll be a good captain as well. It was the case with many such cricketers who had outstanding cricketing skills but when they were asked to lead, they didn't blossom as much.

Here are 5 such cricketers who could not prove to be good captains

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

It's quite rare to see the great man's name on a list that is talking about failures. But there couldn't be a better example of a player having out of this world cricketing prowess and a poor captaincy record. Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the best batsman of all time having topped all the charts of batting records and having scored the unthinkable 100 international centuries. But when it came to leading the side, his record is exactly opposite to his batting stats. Having led the Indian team in 25 Tests, he tasted victories on only 4 occasions and from 73 ODIs, team India won only 23 times under his leadership. He had 2 spells of captaincies and after poor results on both occasions, he ended up leaving the role both times.

#2 Brian Lara

Embed from Getty Images One great cricketer is followed by another cricketer. In the 90s, there was always a comparison between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara about who is the best batsman of the generation. Both had tremendous cricketing records and there was one more thing that was common between the two - poor captaincy records. Lara led the West Indies side in 47 Tests and won just 10 of those and lost 26. His ODI captaincy record is a little better having a win percentage of 50 in 125 games. Perhaps the greatest achievement of his tenure came in the year 2004 when West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England.

#3 Andrew Flintoff

Embed from Getty Images Known as one of the finest all-rounders to have ever embraced the game of cricket, Andrew Flintoff was an asset to English cricket during his playing days. He was lethal with the bowl and equally good with the bat as well. He played an instrumental role in England's iconic victories in the Ashes 2005 and 2009. Flintoff led the side for a short duration and suffered defeats more often than not. In 11 Tests as captain, he lost 7 matches and won just the 2. He was the captain of the ODI side that toured India in 2006 and the Three Lions lost the series 5-1. Michael Vaughan returned as the captain post that and Flintoff was released from the duties.

#4 Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle
Talk about destructive batting and the name of Chris Gayle stands above all. He is perhaps the most explosive batsman to have ever played the game and the one responsible to change the way the modern-day cricket is played. Batsmen like him popularized T20 cricket and showed the world a whole new aspect of the game. Even though he is a terrific batsman yet his captaincy record is not the one that he would want to put on his resume. West Indies, under Gayle's leadership, won just 17 out of 53 ODIs and ended up losing 30. It's not just Gayle though, the West Indies cricket has been struggling to find an able captain to turn the tides of the cricket in the nation.

#5 Heath Streak

Embed from Getty Images Probably the best bowler that Zimbabwe has ever produced, Heath Streak was the strike pacer for the side for a number of years. With certain abilities with the bat as well, he was a handy cricketer for the country. But as a captain, he couldn't produce the goods as the team lost 47 out of 68 ODIs he led in and won just 18. During his tenure from 2000 to 2004, Zimbabwe was a much better side as compared to the current one but Streak was unlucky to be the leader during a tough time. Post his retirement, he has been active in the coaching department and shaped the fast bowlers of Bangladesh cricket in the recent times.
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