When recently Tim Paine renounced his test captaincy before the Ashes and also made himself unavailable for the same, Patrick Cummins was appointed the new Test Captain for Australia. He became the 47th Captain for Australia and achieved captaincy at the age of 28. In this article we will revisit 10 youngest captains in history of test cricket.
Rashid Khan – The youngest ever test captain in the history of test cricket at the age of 20 years and 350 days is Rashid Khan of Afghanistan. The leg spinner made his debut as a test captain against Bangladesh on 5 Sep 2019 at Chattogram. Due to some issues with Afghanistan Cricket Board he later stepped down from captaincy.
Tatenda Taibu – The wicket-keeper batsman from Zimbabwe previously held the record for being the youngest test captain. He became captain at the age of 20 years and 358 days in match against Sri Lanka in 2004 at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe.He announced his retirement at the age of 22 but later came back at the age of 24.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi – The former Indian Captain also known as Nawab of Pataudi or Tiger Pataudi is the Youngest Indian Test Captain till date. He lost vision in his right eye after a car accident but was still made the captain at the age of 21 years 77 days. He remains one of the greatest test captain of India. The first ever overseas victory of India came under his leadership in 1967 against New Zealand.
Waqar Younis – The Pakistani legend who was also known by the name of “The Burewala Express” and “Toe Crusher” was the youngest Pakistani Captain at the the age of 22 years and 15 days. He along with Wasim Akram became one of the lethal bowling pairs in the world during 1990s. Though he couldn’t remain captain for long but continued to prove his mettle with his breathtaking bowling.
Greame Smith – The left handed opener from South Africa who was also handed captaincy at the very young age of 22 years 88 days against Bangladesh in 2003 is considered to be one of the best openers of test cricket. Under his leadership South Africa became a formidable team . He is the most successful captain in the history of test cricket with 53 wins out of 109 matches and with the win percentage of 48.62.
Shakib Al Hasan – The Bangladeshi legend became the youngest bangladeshi captain at the age of 22 years and 115 days against West Indies in 2009. He remained the No.1 all rounder in world for many years in test cricket. Though he was sacked from captaincy in 2011 but over the years he has proved his worth time and again by ranking among top 3 all rounders in world in ODIs as well.
Ian Craig – The Aussie batsman holds the record for being the youngest Australian Captain at the age of 22 years 194 days. He became captain against South Africa in 1957 at Johannesburg. He also holds the record for being the youngest player to represent Australia at the age of 17.
Javed Miandad – The greatest Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad was made captain at the age of 22 years 260 days against Australia in 1980 at Karachi. He led Pakistan in 34 matches out of which they lost 6 and won 14 . He couldn’t remain captain for long as there was Imran Khan with whom he shared troubled relationship.
Murray Bisset – The wicket-keeper batsman from South Africa became captain at the age of 22 years 306 days against Australia in 1899 in Johannersburg. He held the record for being the youngest captain for more than 50 years.
Mohammad Ashraful – The Bangladeshi right hand batsman became captain at the age of 22 years 353 days against Sri Lanka in 2007 at Colombo. He was later removed as captain in 2009. He was immensely talented and had proper technique for a test batsman but couldn’t achieve success which was expected.
