Test cricket is considered the ultimate form of knowing a player’s worth. However, captaining your country is an honour that every player dreams of. Here is a rating of the captains of International cricket today:
Virat Kohli (9/10):
Virat Kohli took over the captaincy after taking over from MS Dhoni and has been great for the country. He has to be tested outside the sub-continent, with the series against West Indies against a weaker squad. In his short captaincy career so far, Kohli has been very aggressive and made some very good moves. So far so good, Kohli will look to continue his good run.
Joe Root (7/10):
Joe Root took over the captaincy from Alastair Cook and was able to get a nice victory under his belt against the South Africans. Root will be looking to carry this good start to the next series. In the Test series against South Africa, Joe Root looked pro-active in the middle and made some good calls but he needs to a bit more aggressive with his field placements.
Faf du Plessis (6.5/10):
One of the best athletes to have played for South Africa, Faf du Plessis did not have a good series against the English. They were beaten 3-1 and Faf will look to consolidate from here. Faf looked completely out of colour and wasn’t able to lift him team’s morale.
Kane Williamson (7/10):
The New Zealander has been in splendid form with the bat, Williamson is also a good captain who was not able to prevent the South Africans winning. Williamson is one of the best batsmen in the world and he is also a very influential leader. But, he needs to more aggressive and proactive with his bowling changes and field placements.
Steve Smith (8/10):
Steve Smith looks to be the answer that Australia were looking for Ricky Ponting and he looks to be in good touch for many years. He is a great batsman who is able to marshal his troops and will be looking to win everything. Smith is a typical Aussie captain who keeps his team on the move and doesn’t allow the opposition to get away with anything on the field.
Rangana Herath (5/10):
Rangana Herath is probably captaining one of the worst Sri Lankan squads but he would not be able to stop them from getting humiliated. He has a huge task on his hand to try to curb the flow but it is not going to be easy.
Mushfiqur Rahim (7/10):
Though Bangladesh have been playing some good cricket, this year, they were able to record a Test win at Sri Lanka. A one-off defeat against India showed that they do not belong in the elite but it is a work in progress.
Sarfaraz Ahmed
Pakistan recently appointed Sarfaraz Ahmed as their Test captain. After displaying brilliant leadership in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the Pakistani selectors gave more responsibility to Sarfaraz Ahmed. We have’t seen too much of Sarfaraz’s leadership in Test cricket but it can be said that he is a very inspirational captain and who can take Pakistan cricket forwards, in all three formats of the game.
Jason Holder (6/10)
Jason Holder is a very exciting young all-rounder. In the last couple of years, he has made a big name for himself in Windies Cricket and he is also their captain across all three formats of the game. But, it must be said that Windies Cricket hasn’t progressed much under his leadership and he needs to improve on all aspects of his captaincy.
By Rohit Nair
