Stats: Five cricketers who failed as players but shone as skippers

Take a look at five cricketers who were/are poor as players but they turned out to be good captains.

Hyderabad: It is said very often that great students do not necessarily become great teachers. The vice-versa of the statement is also true and it applies to the game of cricket.

There are some cricketers, who were/are mediocre as a player but they turned out to be good captains. Take a look at five such players.

Darren Sammy (West Indies all-rounder)

File image of Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy, who is currently out-of-favour with the West Indies team selectors, was in 2011 named skipper of the team across all formats. Sammy made his mark as T20I skipper as Windies won 27 of the 47 T20Is they played under his leadership.

Interestingly, Sammy is the only captain to have won T20 World Cup twice. He captained West Indies to the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 victory against Sri Lanka, West Indies' first major trophy for 8 years (having won the ICC Champions trophy against England in 2004). Sammy again captained West Indies to victory in the 2016 T20 World Cup against England.

However, Sammy’s performance as a player in the shortest format was below-par as in the 68 T20I matches, he scored mere 587 runs at an average of 17.26 with his highest score being 42*.

Also, after leading Windies to 2016 T20 WC win, Darren was dropped from the team and replaced by Carlos Brathwaite as captain. Since then, Sammy has not played for the West Indies.

Sammy’s stats as skipper:

T20I (2011-2016)

Won match: 27

Lost match: 17

Tied match: 1

No result: 2

Win percentage: 57.44

Michael Vaughan (Former England batsman)

File image of Michael Vaughan

Former cricketer Michael Vaughan went on to become one of the remarkable players in the history of the English Cricket. He served as England captain for the Test team from 2003 to 2008, the ODI team from 2003-2007, and was the first Twenty20 England skipper from 2005-2007.

Under Vaughan’s captaincy, England enjoyed success to great extent as they won 32 of their 54 matches and 26 of their 51 matches in ODI and Test formats respectively.

Also, on September 12, 2005, Vaughan secured his place in English sporting history by becoming the first captain to win an Ashes series since Mike Gatting in 1986-87.

But Vaughan proved to be an average player as he scored just 5719 runs in 82 Test games at an average of 41.44 and despite playing total of 86 ODI matches, he never hit a century in the format. His overall highest ODI score is 90 not out, which he made off 99 balls against Zimbabwe.

Vaughan’s stats as skipper:

Test (2003-2008)

Won match: 26

Lost match: 11

Tied match: 14

Win percentage: 50.98

ODI (2003-2007)

Won match: 32

Lost match: 22

Tied match: 0

Win percentage: 59.25

Moin Khan (Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman)

File image of Moin Khan

Moin Khan who made his debut for Pakistan in 1990 and took retirement in 2004, captained the Green shirts from 1995 to 2001 in ODI and under him Pakistan flourished in the limited-overs format. Pakistan won 20 of 34 ODI matches and also clinched Asia Cup in 2000 with Moin being in charge.

However, as an individual, Moin was just another batsman, who scored just 3266 ODI runs in 219 matches at an average of 23, with 72* being his highest score in the format.

Moin’s stats as skipper:

ODI (1995-2001)

Won match: 20

Lost match: 14

Tied match: 0

Win percentage: 58.82

Sarfaraz Ahmed (Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman)

File image of Sarfaraz Ahmed

Sarfaraz Ahmed made his debut for Pakistan in 2007 and on 5 April 2016, he was appointed as T20I skipper of the team. Under his captaincy Pakistan won 11 consecutive T20 series and also achieved top position in T20I rankings.

Sarfaraz's success in the shortest format saw him ascend to the rank of ODI captain and he immediately led Pakistan to one of the greatest triumphs in their cricketing history by beating India by a record margin in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

However, Sarfaraz is not as good as a player as he is as skipper. The wicket-keeper batsman has played 116 ODIs till date and scored 2302 runs at an average of 33.85. In T20I, Sarfaraz has accumulated 812 runs in 58 games at an average of 28.

Interestingly, in 2019 Sarfaraz was sacked as Pakistan captain from the Test and T20I formats. However, he exits with a captaincy record of 29 wins in 37 matches, for a win percentage of 78.37 – the highest among Pakistan captains to have led in 20 or matches at this level.

Sarfaraz’s stats as skipper:

T20I (2015-2019)

Won match: 29

Lost match: 8

Tied match: 0

No result: 0

Win percentage: 78.37

ODI (2015-2019)

Won match: 28

Lost match: 20

No result: 2

Win percentage: 56

Tim Paine (Australian wicketkeeper-batsman)

File image of Tim Paine

Tim Paine, who made his debut for Australia in 2009, took over the Test captaincy in March 2018 after Steve Smith was banned from international cricket for his part in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Paine didn’t disappoint as skipper as under his leadership Australia won 10 of 19 Test matches and also retained Ashes in 2019.

However, Paine fails to impress as an player as he has scored mere 1330 runs in 31 Tests at an average of 31.66 and despite playing Test cricket since 2010, Paine is yet to register a century as his highest score in the format as of now is 92.

Paine stats as skipper:

Test (2018-till date)

Won match: 10

Lost match: 6

Tied match: 3

Win percentage: 52.63