10 Great International Cricketers Who Were Not Good Captains

Leading a national team in cricket or any other sport for that matter is one of the toughest jobs. Not only does a captain have to plot and plan tactics besides worrying about his own performances, he/she also has the onus of creating a positive culture in the dressing room besides showing confidence in his/her players and ensuring that they get the best out of them.

It is often said that ‘great players don’t make for good captains’ and while it is unfair to generalize it, the names mentioned in the below list certainly testify the aforementioned fact to the hilt.

Here’s a look at 10 great cricketers who weren’t good captains:

Brian Lara

One of the greatest batters to have ever graced this beautiful game, it is fair to say that Brian Charles Lara did not enjoy leading his side as captain.

Lara captained the West Indies at a time when they were in a consistent decline and that is perfectly reflected in his W/L record across formats.

While he still had a decent outing in the ODI format where he led the West Indies to the 2004 Champions Trophy triumph, it was his Test record as skipper that drew immense criticism.

Lara led the West Indies in 125 ODIs with a 50% success record but in Test cricket, the Caribbean islands managed just 10 wins in 47 games, losing as many as 26.

Despite such a poor record, Lara led the West Indies for a better part of nine years till his final hurrah in the 2007 World Cup on home soil.

Andrew Flintoff

One of the most impactful all-rounders of the modern era, Andrew Flintoff had a torrid time as an England skipper in both forms of the game.

One of the prime architects of England’s 2005 Ashes win, Flintoff led England in 11 Tests, out of which the ‘Three Lions’ managed to win just 2, losing as many as 7 games.

As far as ODI cricket is concerned, his record is equally atrocious as he managed just a solitary win in the seven 7 50-over games that he spearheaded for England.

Kevin Pietersen

Another great cricketer, who failed to live up to the hype when he was appointed captain of his country’s cricket team is Kevin Pietersen.

The South African-born England cricketer was appointed captain following the retirement of Michael Vaughan at the end of the 2008 summer.

KP’s captaincy tenure was marred with a dispute with then-coach Peter Moores which eventually led to his resignation in January 2009.

Pietersen led England in just three Tests and nine ODIs, the majority of which came during the ill-fated 2008 tour of India where the ‘Three Lions’ lost the ODI series 0-5 and the Test series 0-1.

Heath Streak

He may have fallen from grace following the revelation of his involvement with corruptors, but Heath Streak will remain as one of the greatest or arguably the greatest bowler that Zimbabwe has ever produced.

Streak was the spearhead of the Zimbabwean pace-bowling attack in the early 2000s alongside Henry Olonga. However, the right-arm seamer could not replicate his success as a bowler when he was appointed skipper of the national team.

Heath Streak led Zimbabwe in 68 ODIs between 2000-04, losing a whopping 47 in the process and winning just 18. As far as Tests are concerned, Streak led Zimbabwe in 21 Tests, winning just 4 and losing 11.

To be fair to Streak, though, Zimbabwe cricket was engulfed in a massive race-row at the time with the then President Mugabe bringing a controversial law that mandated a certain number of black players in the playing 11, and, so, there was very little that the right-arm seamer could have done.

The bill eventually led to the demise of Zimbabwe cricket as several high-profile names including Andy Flower, Henry Olonga, etc announced their pre-mature retirement post the 2003 World Cup.

Chris Gayle

If Brian Lara was a bad captain, the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, who took over the reins of the West Indian team post the retirement of the former, was even worse.

When Gayle was appointed West Indies skipper in 2007, one thought that his aggressive batting style will rub off on his captaincy and it will lead to a fearless brand of cricket from the team.

However, that proved to be a false assumption as Gayle never really cut it as a leader. His record as captain is worse than his predecessor Brian Lara and this just about sums up the kind of state West Indies cricket was in at the time.

Gayle led the West Indies in 20 Test matches, winning just 3 and losing 9 while 8 ended in a draw. As far as ODIs are concerned, Gayle managed just 17 wins in 53 games, losing 30.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

A batsman with an unorthodox stance who grinded the opposition bowling attacks to the hilt on a consistent basis throughout his international career, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was a classic case of a great player playing in a below-average team.

Chanderpaul led the West Indies in a total of 14 Tests between 2004/05 to 20005/06, managing just 1 win and 10 defeats.

As far as ODI cricket is concerned, the gritty southpaw led the former World Champions in 16 games, winning 2 and losing 14.

Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan will go down in history as the greatest cricketer that Bangladesh has ever produced but it is fair to say that the spin-bowling all-rounder didn’t particularly enjoy his stint as captain.

In his two separate stints as Test captain, Hasan managed just 3 wins in 14 games, losing as many as 11. He fared decently as ODI skipper though, leading Bangladesh to 23 wins in 50 games, losing 26.

As far as T20Is are concerned, Shakib led Bangladesh in 21 games in which he managed just 7 victories.

Andy Flower

A consistent run-making juggernaut, it is fair to say Andy Flower is the ‘Don Bradman of Zimbabwe Cricket’.

Flower impinged himself as one of the leading players of the world in the late 90s and early 2000s and via his bat, he scripted some of the most famous wins in Zimbabwe history.

However, the former England coach couldn’t replicate his success when he led his national team. Flower led Zimbabwe in 20 Tests between 1995-2000, winning just 1 and losing 10.

As far as ODI cricket is concerned, Andy Flower led the African nation in 52 matches, out of which he ended up on a winning note on a mere 12 occasions, losing a whopping 35 games.

Ross Taylor

Ross Taylor- the batsman- will go down in history as one of the greatest players that New Zealand have ever produced.

However, the same cannot be said about Taylor- the captain. Taylor took over the leadership of the Black Cats after Dan Vettori resigned from the post in 2011.

Taylor led the Kiwis in 14 Tests, winning just 4 and losing 8. His record in 50-over cricket as skipper isn’t something to write home about.

He led New Zealand in 20 ODIs and won just 6, losing 12. Taylor was eventually replaced by Brendon McCullum in 2013, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sachin Tendulkar

It is said that ‘great players don’t always make good captains’ and for a variety of reason, this perfectly applies to Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

You can say that it was sheer lack of luck or the fact that he didn’t have enough quality players in the set-up or perhaps he was expecting his players to do the same things that he used to do, whatever it was, Sachin had a disappointing couple of stints as Indian captain.

His first stint started off on a brilliant note as India registered Test series wins over Australia and South Africa on home soil. However, it soon went downhill as he presided over Test series defeats in South Africa and the West Indies in 1996-97. Tendulkar was unceremoniously sacked shortly afterward.

He was once again reinstated as skipper after the 1999 World Cup and this time, his stint proved to be even worse than the first one as India was first humiliated in Australia and then by South Africa on home soil at the turn of the century. As far as ODIs are concerned, Sachin managed just 23 wins out of 73 games that he led Team India, losing as many as 43.

Tendulkar resigned from the leadership duties post the home series defeat against South Africa in 2000. He was offered the job seven years later when Rahul Dravid relinquished his leadership post but the ‘Master Blaster’ refused and, instead, suggested MS Dhoni’s name for the coveted position. The rest, as they say, is history.

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