Best International captain from the current lot of captains

[Titan24]

Best captain doesn't necessary means he wins every match as it depends upon the team he has got but, how much he gets out of his players and how strategic he is in his decision making.

A captain with a team calibre of 60 and is getting 55 out of them is better to me than captain with the team calibre of 90 and getting 70 out of them. Second captain will still beat the first one in a match however, it doesnt necessarily make him a better captain.

I will go by the following:

1) Faf Dup (He has got strategies developed for different situations and remains calm while executing them and good sense of bowler rotations)

2) Sarfaraz (He has the tactical and strategic mind, he has plans for oppositions and players and changes them pro actively. Moreover, he has got that bit of captain's aggression towards handling of players as well which we see in Kohli and Mushrafe so a perfect blend. Would have been no 1 for me but sometimes he gets overboard with that aggression thing but, still new to this business)

3) Kane Williamson (Another tactically strong captain, makes the best use of his resources)

4) Mushrafe Murtaza (Not a strategic or tactical genius but with his aggression and lack of inferiority complex which many of his predecessors carried, he has given a new energy to the Bangladeshi team in ODIs and to some extent that success has enhanced to test arena).

5) Kohli (Like Murtaza not much to rave about his strategies or tactics but with his energy gets something out of most of his players).

6) Smith (While already has become a legendary batsman of test arena, he leaves a lot to be desired as captain. Yes he leads from the front but neither he is an extraordinary man manager nor he is impressive with strategies).

7) Root (Still very new to the job so there is a lot to be seen)

8) Holder (He has never say die attitude and I guess thats about it as far as his captaincy is concerned, have been improving though)

9) ) Creamer has had a pretty impressive start while Tharanga and Chndimal are still to prove their metal.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

1. Kohli
2. Kane
3. Faf
4. Mashrafee
5. Root
6. Smith
7. Sarfaraz
8. Holder
9. Creamer
10. SL cap

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Sarfraz then
Faf (sometimes extra experimental)

Rest are far behind these 2. Btw both Sarfi and Faf are not the best players in their side but excellent captains. Both Pak and Saf made mistake by appointing captaincy to them too late.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

2) Sarfaraz (He has the tactical and strategic mind, he has plans for oppositions and players and changes them pro actively. Moreover, he has got that bit of captain's aggression towards handling of players as well which we see in Kohli and Mushrafe so a perfect blend. Would have been no 1 for me but sometimes he gets overboard with that aggression thing but, still new to this business)

That aggression actually helped and was a factor in winning us the Champions trophy. On pitches and conditions where 300+ was a norm (and Pak recently destroyed for 300+ runs in Aus and Eng for fun), Pakistan under Sarfraz restricted oppositions to 220. If not for Sarfraz teams would have scored 260-270 atleast with Pak failing to chase it. That has happened so many times in the past. Pak bowling has always been good to restrict teams to a lesser total than tournament average but our batting failed to chase targets above 240.

 

[Proactive_]

It pains me to not see Rahane in this list. His captaincy in the series decider vs Aus. at Dharamsala on a greenish wicket was just exemplary. Probably the best Test captaincy I've seen from an Indian since Ganguly. But no wonder they'll persist with Kohli because of superstar culture, merit be damned. Any sane cricket board would have gone with Rahane as the Test captain after that Test but this is the BCCI we're talking about so no wonder..

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

It pains me to not see Rahane in this list. His captaincy in the series decider vs Aus. at Dharamsala on a greenish wicket was just exemplary. Probably the best Test captaincy I've seen from an Indian since Ganguly. But no wonder they'll persist with Kohli because of superstar culture, merit be damned. Any sane cricket board would have gone with Rahane as the Test captain after that Test but this is the BCCI we're talking about so no wonder..

One of the reason India won that decider was Rahane's captaincy. Absolute top notch. Australia were cruising before Rahane's tactics changed the match.

 

[Titan24]

It pains me to not see Rahane in this list. His captaincy in the series decider vs Aus. at Dharamsala on a greenish wicket was just exemplary. Probably the best Test captaincy I've seen from an Indian since Ganguly. But no wonder they'll persist with Kohli because of superstar culture, merit be damned. Any sane cricket board would have gone with Rahane as the Test captain after that Test but this is the BCCI we're talking about so no wonder..

I agree tactically he looked more solid than Kohli but cant be in the list as he is not a permenant captain.

 

[Titan24]

That aggression actually helped and was a factor in winning us the Champions trophy. On pitches and conditions where 300+ was a norm (and Pak recently destroyed for 300+ runs in Aus and Eng for fun), Pakistan under Sarfraz restricted oppositions to 220. If not for Sarfraz teams would have scored 260-270 atleast with Pak failing to chase it. That has happened so many times in the past. Pak bowling has always been good to restrict teams to a lesser total than tournament average but our batting failed to chase targets above 240.

Agreed but may be with the youngsters or in the pressure situation he can get it a notch down. May be I am just being over critical.

Otherwise in the current cricketing world he is a top notch captain. Dont see any tactical experts other than mentioned few.

 

[Titan24]

Forgot Morgan, he would be at no 4 after Williamson in my list.

 

[Titan24]

Sarfraz then
Faf (sometimes extra experimental)

Rest are far behind these 2. Btw both Sarfi and Faf are not the best players in their side but excellent captains. Both Pak and Saf made mistake by appointing captaincy to them too late.

Yes many boards make the mistake of making the one of the most senior guys in the team as captain.

Yes captain should be a proven and experienced campaigner and more importantly a player with a good tactical mind but not necessarily have to be the most experienced guy in the side as we saw with Amla and then ABD for SA.

With Sarfaraz I guess he deserved captaincy of ODI instead of Azhar in 2015 though Azhar did pretty well as captain of Lahore lions and Balochistan in Pakistan cup earlier that year and also of T20 when Afridi was made captain. One could have easily sensed his calibre from the third ODI against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe when he was handed the captaincy and Azhar was injured.

He used Bilal Asif amazingly well and got 5 wkts through him.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Yes many boards make the mistake of making the one of the most senior guys in the team as captain.

Yes captain should be a proven and experienced campaigner and more importantly a player with a good tactical mind but not necessarily have to be the most experienced guy in the side as we saw with Amla and then ABD for SA.

With Sarfaraz I guess he deserved captaincy of ODI instead of Azhar in 2015 though Azhar did pretty well as captain of Lahore lions and Balochistan in Pakistan cup earlier that year and also of T20 when Afridi was made captain. One could have easily sensed his calibre from the third ODI against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe when he was handed the captaincy and Azhar was injured.

He used Bilal Asif amazingly well and got 5 wkts through him.

Yep I remember that. Series was 1-1 draw and even in that match Zimbawe were cruising I think 80-0 and then he used Bilal Asif brilliantly. Why is that even mediocre players perform above expectations under Sarfi's captaincy? May be he is damn good?

 

[Abdullah719]

Yep I remember that. Series was 1-1 draw and even in that match Zimbawe were cruising I think 80-0 and then he used Bilal Asif brilliantly. Why is that even mediocre players perform above expectations under Sarfi's captaincy? May be he is damn good?

Apparently new players magically come into the team when Sarfaraz is captain and suddenly perform by coincidence.

 

[Hasan123]

Faf is probably the best captain. Kohli, Morgan,and Sarfraz are also very good captains. Smith and Williamson are still finding there way.

 

[ToeCrusher2]

King Kohli is the best, hands down

 

[Messiah]

mushfiqur rahim best by far

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

mushfiqur rahim best by far

He is the worst.

 

[mak36]

This isn't even a discussion. Sarfaraz all the way, followed by Faf.

 

[Syed1]

Can't believe people are rating Kohli. Kohli is only a good captain when things are going to plan. When things get out of hand he cowers in the corner and lets daddy Dhoni take over. As seen during the CT final and numerous other occasions when Kohli sent himself to the boundary and Dhoni was making all the fielding and bowling changes.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Sarfraz is definitely up there. You are a hater if you don't have him in your top 3. I'd say faf is probably the best though

 

[ToeCrusher2]

1. Kohli
2. Kane
3. Faf
4. Mashrafee
5. Root
6. Smith
7. Sarfaraz
8. Holder
9. Creamer
10. SL cap

Agree with this, perfect rating

 

[The_Odd_One]

Hard to pick between Sarfraz, Faf, and Kane.

 

[Leo23]

kohli

check his test record. one of the best test captains of the last decade already.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

1. Sarfraz / Faf (Very difficult to choose)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Kohli

 

[UN talkz]

Eoin Morgan ..... by a country mile, nobody is even close to him

 

[sshakir411]

I'd say Kane. But hard to judge.

 

[Ab Fan]

Faf definitely is the best

 

[troodon]

Kohli

This will rough up some feathers.

 

[Dingolfy]

Can't believe people are rating Kohli. Kohli is only a good captain when things are going to plan. When things get out of hand he cowers in the corner and lets daddy Dhoni take over. As seen during the CT final and numerous other occasions when Kohli sent himself to the boundary and Dhoni was making all the fielding and bowling changes.

So where were Sarfaraz's plans when out-of form Yuvi murdered Hassan to get 316?Dude, everybody looks good when things go according to their plan and horrendously if its not.

 

[OmarKhan99]

So where were Sarfaraz's plans when out-of form Yuvi murdered Hassan to get 316?Dude, everybody looks good when things go according to their plan and horrendously if its not.

I agree to an extent, but have to keep in mind that was like his 4th match as a permanent captain. As for Kohli......I like him as a player, but he just isn't captaincy material. His tactics are either just too rigid or just plain insanse. An example was 2014 Asia Cup (I acknowledge it was his first tornument and was temporary, but it's just too big a mistake) bowling out other options and bowling the slow offspinning Aswhin to Saeed Ajmal (I know he was bowled but even Ajmal could've smacked those two sixes off an offspinner, hence a risky move) and Shahid Afridi. In my opinion, Sarfraz is among the best, because he's seemed to have found the perfect blend of sugarcoated brutal slaps-like how mothers slap the kid and then tells them it'll be alright- to some of the slacking players, and FORCES them to perform better. The good thing is that the players have recognised this and have not miskaten it for ill intentions. Kane, Morgan and Faf will permutate between 2nd to 4th.

 

[Madplayer]

So where were Sarfaraz's plans when out-of form Yuvi murdered Hassan to get 316?Dude, everybody looks good when things go according to their plan and horrendously if its not.

Yuvraj and kohli were dropped early on if you remember. Perfect captaincy by sarfaraz. No captain can do anything if players drop catches.

 

[Ellipsism]

Agree with this, perfect rating

Smith is a poor captain, would have Sarfaraz ahead of him every day of the week.

 

[Ellipsism]

kohli

check his test record. one of the best test captains of the last decade already.

He hasn't even captained a full test series (I think he was the captain in the final test in the IND v AUS series in 2014) outside of Asia and he's already the best captain... right on.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

1. Sarfraz Ahmed
2. Faf Du Plessis
3. Eoin Morgan
4. Kane Williamson
5. Joe Root
6. Steve Smith
7. Mashrafe Mortaza
8. Asghar Stanikzai
9. Jason Holder
10. Grame Cremer
11. Upul Tharanga
12. Peter Borren
13. Virat Kohli

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Lol at poll list without mashrafee...and lol at sarfaraz at no 1 by some posters...

 

[Abdullah719]

Lol at poll list without mashrafee...and lol at sarfaraz at no 1 by some posters...

Didn't add Mortaza as he is only captain in the shorter formats. Same for Morgan.

That's what the 'other' option is there for.

Would be good to have some contribution besides 'lol'.

 

[shane]

It has to be Virat Kohli, who is the best of a very very bad bunch.

 

[ManFan]

Virat Kholi is the best batsmen but one of the worst captains.

 

[Nil Dhumrojal]

Didn't add Mortaza as he is only captain in the shorter formats. Same for Morgan.

That's what the 'other' option is there for.

Would be good to have some contribution besides 'lol'.

Op didn't mentioned about any particular format or formats or all formats captain.so every international captains should be in the list whether he be single format captain or multi format captain.

 

[Hasan123]

Can't believe people are rating Kohli. Kohli is only a good captain when things are going to plan. When things get out of hand he cowers in the corner and lets daddy Dhoni take over. As seen during the CT final and numerous other occasions when Kohli sent himself to the boundary and Dhoni was making all the fielding and bowling changes.

So who is holding Kohli's hand in test matches when he is captaining?

 

[another drop catch]

kohli
smith
root
sarfraz
faf duplessis
williamson
holder
herath
mushfiq
asghar stanikzai

 

[Abdullah719]

Op didn't mentioned about any particular format or formats or all formats captain.so every international captains should be in the list whether he be single format captain or multi format captain.

OK mate. Bunch of options added to the poll. Hope they get some votes.