Result-oriented Test Captain

I was going through some Cricinfo Stats on most capped Test Captain. I was somewhat struck by the number of draws by Kapil Dev which is a staggering 22 of the 34 Test Matches he had captained. I tried to figure out who were the most result-oriented captains as per lowest number of draws. I just copied the stats provided in the Cricinfo page and added a percentage of draws coloumn to the right and ranked the captains accordingly. The result is in the attached PDF file (Result Oriented Test Captains).

The Top 10 International Result-Oriented Test Captains (Minimum 25 Matches)

Rank	Player	Span	Mat
1	SR Waugh (Aus)	1999-2004	57
2	WM Woodfull (Aus)	1930-1934	25
3	RT Ponting (Aus)	2004-2010	77
4	MJ Clarke (Aus)	2011-2014	37
5	Wasim Akram (Pak)	1993-1999	25
6	ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1999-2002	38
7	DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	2006-2013	38
8	MA Taylor (Aus)	1994-1999	50
9	BC Lara (WI)	1997-2006	47
10	MS Dhoni (India)	2008-2014	53

It is no surprise that the last 3 Australian Test Captains are all in the top bracket. Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting have led Australia through their Golden Age which is evident from their stunning 62.50% Winning record. A W/L ratio of 3.03 is no revealation of the fact that during the period from 1994 – 2010 they were the side to beat. They were undoubtedly result-oriented with only 16.85% of the matched Australia played in the 16 years during the trio’s captaincy resulting in draws. It speaks volumes of their captaincy as well as the winning appetite of the Australian cricket system.

MS Dhoni is now in that club with Rank 10. If only he could better his overseas captaincy record somewhat, he will undoubtedly end-up as one of the most result-oriented captains of the present generation along with MJ Clarke (Aus).

I then did the same with the List of Indian Test Captains. The criteria was a minimum of 5 matches as captain and atleast 1 win.

The Top Indian Result-Oriented Test Captians 

Rank	Player	Span	Mat
1	BS Bedi	1976-1978	22
2	MS Dhoni	2008-2014	53
3	Nawab of Pataudi	1962-1975	40
4	DB Vengsarkar	1987-1989	10
5	SC Ganguly	2000-2005	49
6	GS Ramchand	1959-1960	5
7	M Azharuddin	1990-1999	47
8	A Kumble	2007-2008	14
9	R Dravid	2003-2007	25
10	L Amarnath	1947-1952	15
11	SR Tendulkar	1996-2000	25
12	PR Umrigar	1955-1958	8
13	AL Wadekar	1971-1974	16
14	VS Hazare	1951-1953	14
15	SM Gavaskar	1976-1985	47
16	N Kapil Dev	1983-1987	34
17	NJ Contractor	1960-1962	12

Kapil Dev is Rank 51 in this list of International Captains and Rank 16 in the List of Indian captains. This does not speak much of the quality of his captaincy. Rather, it shows the nature of Indian game play during that period (1983 -87). Md. Azharuddin who was the next regular Test Captain after Kapil Dev, somewhat changed the system but it was ultimately Sourav Ganguly who brought-in the culture of winning which is evident from the following:

Player	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	%D
N Kapil Dev	1983-1987	34	4	7	1	22	64.71%
M Azharuddin	1990-1999	47	14	14	0	19	40.43%
SR Tendulkar	1996-2000	25	4	9	0	12	48.00%
SC Ganguly	2000-2005	49	21	13	0	15	30.61%
R Dravid	2003-2007	25	8	6	0	11	44.00%
A Kumble	2007-2008	14	3	5	0	6	42.86%
MS Dhoni	2008-2014	53	26	14	0	13	24.53%

Bishen Singh Bedi remains the most result-0riented captain as per the following criteria till date. However, I left him out as it was not the times to compare with the team having won only 6 of the 22 matches he captained in.

(The complete list is attached.)

 

Forbes: Dhoni earning more than Sachin

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in news for something not directly related to cricket. After the Mittals and Ambanis, India now has a cricketer in the haloed lists of rich people published by Forbes magazine.

According to the Forbes magazine, Dhoni is now the richest cricketer making $10 million last year. He has surpassed even the legendary and India’s probably first super rich cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin however is still the country’s highest tax paying cricketer pulling out a whooping 8.1 crore rupees as tax this year.

The rise of this long haired bloke from Ranchi, a town not known for cricketers was phenomenal. The man has climbed up the ranks fast, never in awe of being in a club of legends like Sachin and Dravid, he established himself in the team finally ending India’s long search for a wicketkeeper who can bat. He grabbed the captain’s cap first in the ODIs and then after Kumble’s retirement in the Tests. The script of his career has been till now just remarkable.

Sourav Ganguly is making news and quite regularly

Sourav Ganguly surely has not lost his habit of making news and remaining in the public eye even after retirement from international cricket.

He has his plate full and no body is doubting that! First, he showed that he is there to stay in the cricket world by signing up with ESPN for a short stint at the commentary box during the World Twenty20 tournament in England.

Ganguly starts second innings as commentator

Sourav Ganguly can hardly be kept out of action. Within a fortnight of returning from South Africa, he has been in the news for a number of reasons.

He is busy as ever as a columnist in the print media. He has already been well accepted by not just his fans but in the cricketing fraternity for his unique crisp style of writing.

Businessman by birth, construction is going on in full scale for the six storeyed building where he plans to start a ICSE board school despite agitation from localites fearing traffic congestion.