Best Test Captains post 2000

[shariqnoor]

Just saw this poll on Cricket Australia's website and thought to replicate it here. So who do you think is the best Test captain since 2000 among these men?

1. Steve Waugh

Tests: 44 | Wins: 33 | Losses: 6 | Draws: 5 | Win %: 75 | Toss wins: 22

2. Michael Clarke

Tests: 47 | Wins: 24 | Losses: 16 | Draws: 7 | Win %: 51.06 | Toss wins: 24

3. Saurav Ganguly

Tests: 49 | Wins: 21 | Losses: 13 | Draws: 15 | Win %: 42.86 | Toss wins: 21

4. Andrew Strauss

Tests: 50 | Wins: 24 | Losses: 11 | Draws: 15 | Win %: 48 | Toss wins: 27

5. Michael Vaughan

Tests: 51 | Wins: 26 | Losses: 11 | Draws: 14 | Win %: 50.98 | Toss wins: 23

6. Stephen Fleming

Tests: 56 | Wins: 18 | Losses: 20 | Draws: 18 | Win %: 32.14 | Toss wins: 28

7. Misbah-ul-Haq

Tests: 53 | Wins: 24 | Losses: 18 | Draws: 11 | Win %: 45.28 | Toss wins: 28

8. Alastair Cook

Tests: 59 | Wins: 24 | Losses: 22 | Draws: 13 | Win %: 40.68 | Toss wins: 28

9. MS Dhoni

Tests: 60 | Wins: 27 | Losses: 18 | Draws: 15 | Win %: 45 | Toss wins: 26

10. Ricky Ponting

Tests: 77 | Wins: 48 | Losses: 16 | Draws: 13 | Win %: 62.34 | Toss wins: 37

11. Graeme Smith

Tests: 109 | Wins: 53 | Losses: 29 | Draws: 27 | Win %: 48.62 | Toss wins: 60

Also please rank in order of the importance you give to the following considerations when you judge who's a better captain. 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest.

1. Wins in away matches
2. Quality of the team the captain has at his disposal
3. Quality of the opposition being beaten
4. Frequency of toss wins (do you think more toss wins allow you more victories hence it can mask the quality of a captain?)
5. Captain's performance himself

Please stick to these 5 only and refrain from especially putting Aggressiveness/Defensiveness as an option because that is completely relative and nowhere has it been proven that an aggressive captain is the best captain. Also aggression cannot be quantified. Aggressiveness/Defensiveness are just two sides of a coin on how you can win matches. Both can be admirable traits to have.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Steve Waugh followed by Graeme Smith

 

[shariqnoor]

Steve Waugh followed by Graeme Smith

My pick is Smith. Waugh definitely had an invincible team to lead so I wouldn't put him on top which leads me to my second question. My rankings would be

1. Quality of the team the captain has at his disposal
2. Quality of the opposition beaten
3. Captain's performance himself
4. Wins in away matches
5. Frequency of toss wins.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

My pick is Smith. Waugh definitely had an invincible team to lead so I wouldn't put him on top which leads me to my second question. My rankings would be

1. Quality of the team the captain has at his disposal
2. Quality of the opposition beaten
3. Captain's performance himself
4. Wins in away matches
5. Frequency of toss wins.

1 st criteria is a bit tough

 

[SL_Fan]

Ponting for mine. Waugh only really captained for four years in Tests post 2000 and was replaced in ODIs in 02.

 

[coolcool]

Steve Waugh
Michael Clarke look best captain out of lot but he did not had great players around him,He is one of the best tactical and daring captain

 

[ads101]

Interesting list. Thought Graeme Smith would be higher but then again SA did lose a lot at home for some reason. Those toss wins are ridiculous though.

Clarke is higher than I thought he'd be, because for the period Clarke was captain the Australian team were weaker (then they are now and they were before). Same team which were easily dismantled by England in their own backyard at the time.

Not surprised to see Cook bottom of the list. Wasn't a great captain and England never seemed to be dominant at any time of England's captaincy, unlike under Strauss when they were briefly.

 

[Fahdi]

Smith and Pointing.

 

[StreetSmart]

Misbah if we see the kind of team he had and the situation of cricket in Pakistan. All other captains in this list had good team to support them.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Graeme Smith was the best of the lot,followed by Ponting.

 

[sajeebmcj]

win loss ratio should be counted.

 

[sajeebmcj]

best captain is clarke closely followed by waugh.
smith though a fighter, is not a good captain.

 

[Ab Fan]

Waugh
Ganguly
Smith

I take these three as the best ones since 2000s.

 

[Hasan123]

Waugh
Smith
Clarke/Ganguly

 

[soso_killer]

Beef is one of the best captains in all of sports. A bit like John Terry. A guy who commands respect from his peers and definitely go to war with.

 

[Rayyman]

You know something is wrong with Pakistan cricket, when Misbah has been the best captain for the past 10 years.

 

[Square Drive]

Lol @ Misbah's W/L ratio.

The way his fans hype him makes it seem like his ratio is above 60%.

 

[shariqnoor]

Lol @ Misbah's W/L ratio.

The way his fans hype him makes it seem like his ratio is above 60%.

45% is not great but its not too shabby either. Look at MS Dhoni and Cook. They had a much superior team and have worse W/L ratios.

 

[Madplayer]

Tactically , clarke is the best of the lot.

Overall its between smith and Steve. I'll go with steve.