Can a poor ODI captain be a good Test captain?

[Rafay Shafiq]

Now, it's writing on the wall that Azhar will be removed from ODI captaincy prior WI tour but he will be made Test Captain after Misbah.

My question is simple, could a captain who is failed to lead and inspired a team in ODI, be a good leader in Test?

 

[mz123]

Yes,if misbah can be successful in tests, why not Azhar ?

 

[Solid Snake]

Yes I don't see why not. The style of play and requirements needed to be successful is markedly different between test matches and limited overs.

The opposite can definitely be true, Dhoni was a great ODI captain, his tactics and the way he used limited bowling resources led to a very successful ODI team. But those same tactics didn't work well in tests

Yes,if misbah can be successful in tests, why not Azhar ?

Yeah Misbah's style of leadership worked for us. He was never the most innovative, tactical captain around but by and large was able to achieve just as much as most captains going around -(wins at home and a few notable performances away)- with the attritional style of cricket that marked his leadership.

No reason why Azhar can't replicate that. But I have to say I'd like a departure from this style, it served us well for some time and arguably was what we needed post 2010. However times have changed... would be nice to go for something different!

 

[ask_analyse_act]

why not?
Example: MISBAH was a poor ODI captain but a good test captain..

 

[Statsman]

A bit rare to be honest. Azhar looks under tremendous pressure these days. If he's ousted as odi captain and worse chucked out from the team it will hit his morale. Difficult to pick from there and lead a test side. Good things is that the difficult tours are already over and things will be easier for him if he becomes captain. You can thank Misbah for it.

 

[Midwinter13992]

Dhoni was poor test captain but he was best at limited overs cricket ...By this logic Azhar can be a good captain .

 

[ExpressPacer]

Azhar Ali shouldn't be the Test captain in the first place. But hold on, not because he's a poor captain but because he is obviously our best Test player and our team heavily depends on him. Captaincy brings a lot of pressure and I don't see Azhar Ali doing too well as a player either if he is awarded with the huge responsibility of captaining the team. Even if it was a given that he would be a great captain, I wouldn't risk Azhar Ali the player for a great captain. The opportunity cost is too great.

 

[Pollack]

Technically yes. But I have my own belief:
If a player is a bad captain either in odi or test then he is a poor captain (Tactically) oerall.Its just something else that is working in his favour in the format he is succeeding.Its definitely not his captaincy but maybe better odi players available.
Yes I don't consider Dhoni to be an outstanding captain(tactically)

 

[MMHS]

Definitely can. One of the major qualities of a Captain is that he has to be good at tat format. MS was brilliant in ODI - apart from tactics, he was good enough player to implement his strategy. I have found Malik to be quite good in LOs as Captain, but he was poor Test player, would have been Captain as well, if given longer terms. Two different formats, which need different type of tactics & skill set. Even for his brilliance, Arjuna wasn't that great Test captain, because his style of leadership didn't suit the format, neither he had the players.

But, that has nothing to do with Azhar - regardless of which format, he'll be big failure as Captain. It's not for his cricket skills or acumen - it's because of his personality traits. Some people performs better when in charge, some people is comfortable when guided (& protected) by others. Azhar is type 2 - he can average 75 with bat as Test opener, still he is not the type of person that should be made Captain. In 4th ODI, after few overs, he left the job of talking to his bowlers for MoHa & Amir - which doesn't give confidence.

 

[Hawkeye]

We cannot compare Azhar with Misbah.

Misbah was a man of authority, he had leadership qualities, tactically very good in Tests, was respected by everyone and had an intimidating factor associated with him.

I don't think Azhar has those.

 

[Syed1]

We are about to find out, aren't we?

 

[Pollack]

Technically yes. But I have my own belief:
If a player is a bad captain either in odi or test then he is a poor captain (Tactically) oerall.Its just something else that is working in his favour in the format he is succeeding.Its definitely not his captaincy but maybe better odi players available.
Yes I don't consider Dhoni to be an outstanding captain(tactically)

Its perfectly possible to be a good captain in one format though. But if you are not smart enough to understand the difference between format then you definitely are fluking or one trick pony in other format you are succeeding.
Might sound nonsensical and weird to few though.