New Delhi: One has rightly quoted that “Be scared from a lion who is leading a group of sheep than a Sheep who is leading a group of Lion. Same goes with the Cricket, the leadership skills of captain may make take his team’s performance to zenith.
This year we saw teams which were down and out, but the scenes changed after the captain lead from the front or made some unpredictable move on the field. We list here five captains who proved to be a game changer for their respective teams.
5) Rohit Sharma (India)
Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy team India is mostly in fine nick. This is the reason Rohit Sharma is placed in the fifth position. The man faced a humiliating defeat as captain in the first one day against Sri Lanka. The team somehow managed to score 112 in the match played at Dharmshala.
However, He led from the front in the second one day and scored a double ton in the second ODI.Later the men in blue not only won the ODI series by 2-1 but also white washed Lankans in T20 series under Sharma’s captaincy.
4) Graeme Cremer (Zimbabwe)
The Zimbabwe captain would have not thought in his dreams that he will lead his team to a ODI series triumph on Asian soil. The Sri Lankans had a lean patch this year ,but defeating them in the series was a daunting task.
The captain Graeme creamer who took 4 wickets in the series was well supported by the team. Every plan made by creamer clicked and in the final he held nerves with Sikander Raza with an unbeaten 11 runs and took Zimbabwe to a historic series win by 3-2.
3) Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh)
The all-rounder captain has officially removed the tag of minnows when the team drubbed mighty teams like India, South Africa and Pakistan on home turf in previous years. This year he went a step further. Mortaza proved that qualifying in the quarter-final of WC 2015 was not one time wonder.
The team defeated black caps and surged in the semi final of the Champions Trophy for the very first time. However ,Bangladesh was defeated by India in Semi Final.
2) Steve Smith (Australia)
The captain faced back to back test series defeats despite firing from the bat. The lean patch of the team continued in 2017, Aussies lost to India by 2-1 and managed to level the series against Bangladesh before the high octane battle of the Ashes. It looked like England will retain Ashes after watching the test performance of the Australian team.
However, Steve smith not only surprised cricket experts with his bat, but also with his leadership. Aus is leading 3-0 in Ashes before the start of the boxing day test. The number one test batsman Smith, is so far the top run scorer (501 runs) in the Ashes 2017.
1) Sarfaraz Ahmed (Pakistan)
Pakistan’s champion’s trophy triumph is no less than a fairy tale story for their supporters. The boys in green were not only ranked 8th in the ICC rankings, but also qualified for the tournament by a whisker. The team also lost the first match against arch rivals India by a huge margin. From the next match a different Pakistan team was seen on the ground.
Consecutive victories against South Africa , Srilanka and England boosted the moral of team. Especially the captain’s knock of Sarfaraz against Srilanka took their spirit to another level. In the finals, Pakistan defeated Indian and clinched the Champions Trophy for the very first time.