It is often said cricket is more a batsman’s game. And we have seen it’s the batsmen who captain their team more often than not. Also, the longest serving captains have been batsmen. But in this article we shall discuss five such names who were bowlers but proved to be an amazing skipper.
The first name in the list is of Wasim Akram. The Sultan of Swing deserves all the respect that he gets for bowling some of the most hostile spells of swing bowling ever. But, that wasn’t all he could do. After Imran Khan’s retirement, Akram was made the captain in both formats (Tests and ODIs). He has pretty good numbers as captain. In 25 Tests, he has led Pakistan to 12 wins. His numbers are even better in ODIs, where he has a win percentage of 61.46 with 66 victories in 109 games. He also led Pakistan to the final of the 1999 World Cup in England.
The second name in the list is of Imran Khan. Imran is arguably the finest cricketer Pakistan has ever produced. A bowler who could bowl his heart out in any conditions and on any pitch. He has represented Pakistan for almost 20 years decades out of which he captained them for almost a decade. He retired at the end of the World Cup, but will go down as one of the best captains and one of the best all-rounders in the world.
The third name in the list is of Kapil Dev. The 1983 World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev will always be remembered as one of India’s finest cricketers. He was a lower-middle order batsman who could change the course of an innings in a few overs. And with the ball, he was one of the most energetic bowlers who could often bowl marathon spells. In short, Kapil Dev was India’s best fast bowler, best all-rounder and one of India’s best captains to have played for India.
The fourth name in the list is of Mashrafe Mortaza. Commonly known as ‘Narail Express’, Mashrafe Mortaza was the first real quick bowler to come out of Bangladesh. He had a nice, strong action which helped him generate uncomfortable bounce. Mortaza’s strengths are hitting the deck hard, getting appreciable seam movement and surprising the batsmen with his sheer pace but constant injuries plagued his career. With 232 wickets, Mortaza is still Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs and is still going strong in the only format he plays (ODIs)
The fifth name in the list is of Shaun Pollock. Hailing from a family of cricketing legends, it was no surprise that Shaun Pollock went onto to become one himself. He is one of the finest all-rounders to have played for South Africa. Having scored more than 3500 runs in both formats and taken more than 800 international wickets, Pollock was one of the rare genuine all-rounders in world cricket who could be equally effective with both bat and ball. But with 14 wins in 26 Tests and 59 wins in 92 ODIs as captain, Pollock is third-most successful South African skipper after Graeme Smith and Hansie Cronje.
