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Rank Pakistan's best ODI captains

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
Most wins:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Captain[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Won[/td][td]Lost[/td][td]Tied[/td][td]NR[/td][td]W/L[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]75[/td][td]59[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]1.271[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]66[/td][td]41[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.609[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Inzamam-ul-Haq[/td][td]2002-2007[/td][td]87[/td][td]51[/td][td]33[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]1.545[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Misbah-ul-Haq[/td][td]2008-2015[/td][td]87[/td][td]45[/td][td]39[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]1.153[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Waqar Younis[/td][td]1993-2003[/td][td]62[/td][td]37[/td][td]23[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]1.608[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Sarfaraz Ahmed[/td][td]2015-2019[/td][td]50[/td][td]28[/td][td]20[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]1.4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Javed Miandad[/td][td]1980-1993[/td][td]62[/td][td]26[/td][td]33[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]0.787[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Shoaib Malik[/td][td]2007-2019[/td][td]41[/td][td]25[/td][td]16[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.562[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Saleem Malik[/td][td]1992-1995[/td][td]34[/td][td]21[/td][td]11[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.909[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Moin Khan[/td][td]1995-2001[/td][td]34[/td][td]20[/td][td]14[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.428[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]19[/td][td]18[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1.055[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Rashid Latif[/td][td]1998-2003[/td][td]25[/td][td]13[/td][td]12[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.083[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Azhar Ali[/td][td]2015-2017[/td][td]31[/td][td]12[/td][td]18[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0.666[/td][/tr][/table]


Sorted by W/L ratio:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Captain[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Won[/td][td]Lost[/td][td]Tied[/td][td]NR[/td][td]W/L[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Saleem Malik[/td][td]1992-1995[/td][td]34[/td][td]21[/td][td]11[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.909[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]66[/td][td]41[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.609[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Waqar Younis[/td][td]1993-2003[/td][td]62[/td][td]37[/td][td]23[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]1.608[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Shoaib Malik[/td][td]2007-2019[/td][td]41[/td][td]25[/td][td]16[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.562[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Inzamam-ul-Haq[/td][td]2002-2007[/td][td]87[/td][td]51[/td][td]33[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]1.545[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Moin Khan[/td][td]1995-2001[/td][td]34[/td][td]20[/td][td]14[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.428[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Sarfaraz Ahmed[/td][td]2015-2019[/td][td]50[/td][td]28[/td][td]20[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]1.4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]75[/td][td]59[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]1.271[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Misbah-ul-Haq[/td][td]2008-2015[/td][td]87[/td][td]45[/td][td]39[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]1.153[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Rashid Latif[/td][td]1998-2003[/td][td]25[/td][td]13[/td][td]12[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1.083[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]19[/td][td]18[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1.055[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Javed Miandad[/td][td]1980-1993[/td][td]62[/td][td]26[/td][td]33[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]0.787[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]*Azhar Ali[/td][td]2015-2017[/td][td]31[/td][td]12[/td][td]18[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0.666[/td][/tr][/table]
 
Imran Khan. There was no true minnow team in 80s.

Wasim Akram had the strongest pool of players but for more than one reasons Waqar was not a regular in Playing XI under Wasim. Otherwise Akram's stats as Captain could have been much better.

Shoaib Malik showed promise but never took off. His personal performances were not great either.
 
With out any doubt Imran khan , he was the best for Pakistan , they won many tournaments in Sharjah , Nehru Cup ( mini World Cup) in India & 92 World Cup , imagine had many tournaments been organized during period of 85-92 , his results would have been much much better .
 
Misbah: 27 50s in 83 ODI innings as Captain.
Azhar Ali: 3 100s and 5 50s in 31 ODI innings as Captain.
These two performed very well with the bat as ODI Captain, often holding the innings together as an anchor sheet.

Historically Pakistan have been an overrated ODI side.
Only made 2 out of 12 World Cup finals.
Only made 1 out of 8 Champions Trophy finals.
Only made 4 out of 13 ODI Asia Cup finals.

And recently they've lost 15 out of their last 17 ODI series vs Eng, SA, NZ, Aus since 2012 with a tied series in that. Series losses in those 15:
3 under Sarfraz.
4 under Azhar.
7 under Misbah.
1 under Malik.
 
Wasim Akram.

Unlike Imran, he did not need someone like Miandad to hold the team together under his command but he also had to deal with a divided dressing room of various stars and yet i would argue the best days of Pakistan cricket were under Wasim.

Imran made a mediocre cricket nation competitive. Wasim took it to the next level.

Wasim Akram is without doubt Pakistan's greatest cricketer ever.

A true giant of the game.
 
Imran Khan wouldn't have been a good ODI Captain in the modern era at all where you have all these white ball specialists and don't just play a similar team in ODIs to Tests. Remember him in the 2015 World Cup doing his analysis and saying how good and important Younis Khan was to the team. Kept saying Pakistan made a big mistake by leaving YK out of the quarter final for a few years after that. He thinks he knows it all and that anyone who plays Tests can play ODIs. His cricket sense is poor in modern ODI Cricket.
 
Wasim's record is good but i'd argue that he could have achieved more with the players he had at his disposal.

There were 7-8 matchwinners in every XI. He didn't actually do so well in managing their personalities i.e. Waqar

As such hard to say whether Wasim's captaincy record is a true reflection of his ability. Maybe he would have done better without the infighting, partying and fixing he clearly indulged in during his younger years.
 
Wasim Akram.

Unlike Imran, he did not need someone like Miandad to hold the team together under his command but he also had to deal with a divided dressing room of various stars and yet i would argue the best days of Pakistan cricket were under Wasim.

Imran made a mediocre cricket nation competitive. Wasim took it to the next level.

Wasim Akram is without doubt Pakistan's greatest cricketer ever.

A true giant of the game.

Wasim didn't have to do alot in taking Pakistan to the next level. He was lucky to have become captain at a time when the Pakistan team had come into its own, molded very much by Imran. On the contrary, Wasim was part of the dressing room division because he was the one leading one of the groups. Furthermore, the match-fixing allegations against him have significantly tainted his reputation, compounded by the fact that he was captain when many of these allegations were made.

Undoubtedly he is the greatest fast-bowler Pakistan has ever produced but to say he is the best ODI captain is an insult to Imran and the kind of Pakistan team he created and wanted Pakistan to be.

Missing out on the 1999 World Cup is another major blimp on Wasim's legacy as captain.
 
Misbah: 27 50s in 83 ODI innings as Captain.
Azhar Ali: 3 100s and 5 50s in 31 ODI innings as Captain.
These two performed very well with the bat as ODI Captain, often holding the innings together as an anchor sheet.

On that note, the best performers as captains:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Inns[/td][td]NO[/td][td]Runs[/td][td]HS[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]BF[/td][td]SR[/td][td]100[/td][td]50[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]122[/td][td]29[/td][td]3247[/td][td]102*[/td][td]34.91[/td][td]4418[/td][td]73.49[/td][td]1[/td][td]18[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Misbah-ul-Haq[/td][td]2008-2015[/td][td]87[/td][td]83[/td][td]16[/td][td]3003[/td][td]96*[/td][td]44.82[/td][td]4202[/td][td]71.46[/td][td]0[/td][td]27[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Inzamam-ul-Haq[/td][td]2002-2007[/td][td]87[/td][td]77[/td][td]14[/td][td]2771[/td][td]123[/td][td]43.98[/td][td]3329[/td][td]83.23[/td][td]2[/td][td]19[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Javed Miandad[/td][td]1980-1993[/td][td]62[/td][td]59[/td][td]12[/td][td]1886[/td][td]91*[/td][td]40.12[/td][td]2807[/td][td]67.18[/td][td]0[/td][td]16[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Malik[/td][td]2007-2019[/td][td]41[/td][td]37[/td][td]5[/td][td]1358[/td][td]125*[/td][td]42.43[/td][td]1546[/td][td]87.83[/td][td]1[/td][td]11[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]92[/td][td]16[/td][td]1341[/td][td]79[/td][td]17.64[/td][td]1500[/td][td]89.4[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Azhar Ali[/td][td]2015-2017[/td][td]31[/td][td]31[/td][td]0[/td][td]1153[/td][td]102[/td][td]37.19[/td][td]1443[/td][td]79.9[/td][td]3[/td][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]34[/td][td]1[/td][td]879[/td][td]124[/td][td]26.63[/td][td]648[/td][td]135.64[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Saleem Malik[/td][td]1992-1995[/td][td]34[/td][td]30[/td][td]7[/td][td]849[/td][td]93*[/td][td]36.91[/td][td]1300[/td][td]65.3[/td][td]0[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Aamer Sohail[/td][td]1996-1998[/td][td]22[/td][td]22[/td][td]2[/td][td]830[/td][td]105[/td][td]41.5[/td][td]1107[/td][td]74.97[/td][td]1[/td][td]5[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sarfaraz Ahmed[/td][td]2015-2019[/td][td]50[/td][td]38[/td][td]13[/td][td]804[/td][td]97[/td][td]32.16[/td][td]921[/td][td]87.29[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Rameez Raja[/td][td]1992-1997[/td][td]22[/td][td]22[/td][td]3[/td][td]623[/td][td]104*[/td][td]32.78[/td][td]944[/td][td]65.99[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][/tr][/table]

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Inns[/td][td]Balls[/td][td]Runs[/td][td]Wkts[/td][td]BBI[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]Econ[/td][td]SR[/td][td]4[/td][td]5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]108[/td][td]5505[/td][td]3576[/td][td]158[/td][td]5/15[/td][td]22.63[/td][td]3.89[/td][td]34.8[/td][td]9[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]117[/td][td]5554[/td][td]3801[/td][td]131[/td][td]4/27[/td][td]29.01[/td][td]4.10[/td][td]42.3[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Waqar Younis[/td][td]1993-2003[/td][td]62[/td][td]60[/td][td]2788[/td][td]2357[/td][td]97[/td][td]7/36[/td][td]24.29[/td][td]5.07[/td][td]28.7[/td][td]2[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]37[/td][td]2028[/td][td]1494[/td][td]50[/td][td]5/16[/td][td]29.88[/td][td]4.42[/td][td]40.5[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][/tr][/table]
 
Imran Khan wouldn't have been a good ODI Captain in the modern era at all where you have all these white ball specialists and don't just play a similar team in ODIs to Tests. Remember him in the 2015 World Cup doing his analysis and saying how good and important Younis Khan was to the team. Kept saying Pakistan made a big mistake by leaving YK out of the quarter final for a few years after that. He thinks he knows it all and that anyone who plays Tests can play ODIs. His cricket sense is poor in modern ODI Cricket.

I don't buy your argument because if Imran was captain in the modern day he would be a much younger Imran rather than a 60+ year old Imran. Therefore, he would not be involved in politics and be much more attuned with the modern day dynamics of cricket.

And I'm pretty sure that he would have been a great captain in the modern day because when it comes down to it captaincy is all about having that state of mind, that killer instinct and that ability to command respect. All of which Imran had.
 
True , he would have won more tournaments in those days very few tournaments were organized. One should keep in time during his leadership his team was known for winning ability to win big matches .
 
Can someone tell me if Saleem Malik’s stats are inflated by playing against poor teams/lucky wins or if he was actually a good leader?
 
Imran, Wasim, Inzamam, Safraraz - top 4, then a lot of average captains (Waqar, Afridi, Malik, Misbah, Miandad, Latif, Moin)

I knew Azhar was bad, but those records indicate he was a total travesty. And a third of his wins are against Zim, yikes!
 
Can someone tell me if Saleem Malik’s stats are inflated by playing against poor teams/lucky wins or if he was actually a good leader?
Saleem Malik was one of the few Pakistani captains with tactical nous. He was also able to get Wasim and Waqar on the same page in an era when they were fighting like cats and dogs.

There were some good results with wins in New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the 1994 Australiasia Cup triumph.

However results went downhill by the end of 1994/95. Things came to a head in the finals of the Mandela Trophy triangular in South Africa. In the two Day Night finals, Malik won the toss and "inexplicably" chose to bowl first both times. Now even my nan could've told you that batting under lights in South Africa was a nightmare as the ball swung all over the place (remember the 2003 WC game v England ?).

We were bowled out for 178 and 109. We eventually learned of course, Malik's toss decisions were very explicable. The Qayyum Report names the Mandela Trophy as part of its matchfixing investigation. He was gone by spring.
 
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On that note, the best performers as captains:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Inns[/td][td]NO[/td][td]Runs[/td][td]HS[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]BF[/td][td]SR[/td][td]100[/td][td]50[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]122[/td][td]29[/td][td]3247[/td][td]102*[/td][td]34.91[/td][td]4418[/td][td]73.49[/td][td]1[/td][td]18[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Misbah-ul-Haq[/td][td]2008-2015[/td][td]87[/td][td]83[/td][td]16[/td][td]3003[/td][td]96*[/td][td]44.82[/td][td]4202[/td][td]71.46[/td][td]0[/td][td]27[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Inzamam-ul-Haq[/td][td]2002-2007[/td][td]87[/td][td]77[/td][td]14[/td][td]2771[/td][td]123[/td][td]43.98[/td][td]3329[/td][td]83.23[/td][td]2[/td][td]19[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Javed Miandad[/td][td]1980-1993[/td][td]62[/td][td]59[/td][td]12[/td][td]1886[/td][td]91*[/td][td]40.12[/td][td]2807[/td][td]67.18[/td][td]0[/td][td]16[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Malik[/td][td]2007-2019[/td][td]41[/td][td]37[/td][td]5[/td][td]1358[/td][td]125*[/td][td]42.43[/td][td]1546[/td][td]87.83[/td][td]1[/td][td]11[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]92[/td][td]16[/td][td]1341[/td][td]79[/td][td]17.64[/td][td]1500[/td][td]89.4[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]8[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Azhar Ali[/td][td]2015-2017[/td][td]31[/td][td]31[/td][td]0[/td][td]1153[/td][td]102[/td][td]37.19[/td][td]1443[/td][td]79.9[/td][td]3[/td][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]34[/td][td]1[/td][td]879[/td][td]124[/td][td]26.63[/td][td]648[/td][td]135.64[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Saleem Malik[/td][td]1992-1995[/td][td]34[/td][td]30[/td][td]7[/td][td]849[/td][td]93*[/td][td]36.91[/td][td]1300[/td][td]65.3[/td][td]0[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Aamer Sohail[/td][td]1996-1998[/td][td]22[/td][td]22[/td][td]2[/td][td]830[/td][td]105[/td][td]41.5[/td][td]1107[/td][td]74.97[/td][td]1[/td][td]5[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sarfaraz Ahmed[/td][td]2015-2019[/td][td]50[/td][td]38[/td][td]13[/td][td]804[/td][td]97[/td][td]32.16[/td][td]921[/td][td]87.29[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Rameez Raja[/td][td]1992-1997[/td][td]22[/td][td]22[/td][td]3[/td][td]623[/td][td]104*[/td][td]32.78[/td][td]944[/td][td]65.99[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][/tr][/table]

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Span[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Inns[/td][td]Balls[/td][td]Runs[/td][td]Wkts[/td][td]BBI[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]Econ[/td][td]SR[/td][td]4[/td][td]5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram[/td][td]1993-2000[/td][td]109[/td][td]108[/td][td]5505[/td][td]3576[/td][td]158[/td][td]5/15[/td][td]22.63[/td][td]3.89[/td][td]34.8[/td][td]9[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan[/td][td]1982-1992[/td][td]139[/td][td]117[/td][td]5554[/td][td]3801[/td][td]131[/td][td]4/27[/td][td]29.01[/td][td]4.10[/td][td]42.3[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Waqar Younis[/td][td]1993-2003[/td][td]62[/td][td]60[/td][td]2788[/td][td]2357[/td][td]97[/td][td]7/36[/td][td]24.29[/td][td]5.07[/td][td]28.7[/td][td]2[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi[/td][td]2009-2014[/td][td]38[/td][td]37[/td][td]2028[/td][td]1494[/td][td]50[/td][td]5/16[/td][td]29.88[/td][td]4.42[/td][td]40.5[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][/tr][/table]

Misbah-ul-Haq always lead as captain with the bat . He averaged 50 with the bat in tests as well whilst captain . I think for a number of reasons our one day batting during his reign was very poor .

The likes of jamshed, maqsood, Umar akmal , shehzad , the much touted youngsters at the time never really nailed their spots and delivered consistently despite all playing 30 plus games .
Misbah backed them a fair bit during his captaincy .
 
Misbah is most defensive captain in history of Pakistan cricket , he was coward always try to hide , Pakistan team was known to play aggressive cricket in 80, 90’’s and 2000’s whereas he was completely different mind set . His batting averages are good for nothing .
 
seems you did not see 80’s and 90’s Pakistan team , had you seen would have not been arguing , Misbah team was minnow for big matches , 2014 Champions Trophy could not win single match , and 2015 World Cup it was high probability not to qualify for QF’s , luckily there was rain against SA and bowl start swinging in second half so they won and qualify for QF , by very difficulty won against Ireland too ,
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> in 1992. It was the first time the world saw Imran Khan wearing the famous tiger t-shirt. The Cornered tigers awoke as they beat Australia by 48 runs and the victory started a run of 5 consecutive wins at the 1992 World Cup <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/g0cWxaK9YS">pic.twitter.com/g0cWxaK9YS</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1502198520119500802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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