Who was the best Test captain in 2018?

[Abdullah719]

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Irrespective of the stats, I was pretty impressed with Kane Williamson's captaincy on the UAE tour. The way he declared on the final day taking a big risk of losing and playing mentally with our batsmen and ensuring we lose was sensational.

 

[barah_admi]

Forget stats, it is Kane Williamson because he leads from the front, bats at three, knows his bowlers, applies pressure, is attacking without being ruthless and commands the respect of friends and foe. He is the best captain I have seen since Ponting 9minus commanding the respect of foes).

 

[Ashmal]

Kane Williamson

 

[Muhammad10]

Can't look beyond Sarfraz Ahmed, the one and only captain who makes the team on captaincy alone.

 

[a_tahir]

Can't look beyond Sarfraz Ahmed, the one and only captain who makes the team on captaincy alone.

He makes sure everyone follows him while they are batting. He gets out on 0, everyone follows.
What a role model!

 

[ManFan]

Even though Williamson has had a fantastic 2018, I have to give it Kohli.

He had three of the most difficult tours an Asian captain can have; South Africa, England, and Australia.

He has 4 out of the 11 matches in those tours so far.

If not for a few selection blunders and lack of top-order support, it could have been so much more.

Of course, it’s easy to forget his great performances as an individual player that have cemented his status as the best Test batsman going today.

 

[QalandarFan]

I would like to say Williamson, he's been incredible this year both as a captain and batsman, winning a series in UAE is no mean feat for a SENA country. Not only that but I don't think they've lost a series all year. They've won like 4 in a row so that's pretty impressive.

 

[dildilpak]

While i genuinely respect Williamson both as a player & a captain, i feel too much importance is given to their win over the much lower ranked Pakistan or Sri Lanka teams. I would rate them & Williamson only when they manage to defeat SA, England, Australia or India away, which Kohli has managed to do this year.

 

[RainMan_]

If I was asked to select one, I'd pick Shakib

 

[Sidilicious]

As much as I believe that Kohli's team selection was responsible for India losing both the SA and Eng series, his end result at the end of the year were not bad.

But due to those mistakes, Williamson deserves the award for the best captain. He leads from the front and is tactically brilliant.

Kohli though is still still second. Surprisingly, considering how much I have berated his captaincy this year. The thing with him though is that he leads from the front with the bat, and also how he has turned around our bowling. He does lag behind in his team selection and tactics. Also, his ego doesn't help him.

 

[KyoOne]

Root's made some dynamic, out-of-the-box selections like Buttler and Adil Rashid, and lead successfully against strong Indian lineup and on turning tracks in Ceylon

 

[KyoOne]

Williamson was not spectacular in UAE tests, they won only because Pakistani batsmen gifted their wickets to rookie spinners on innocuous, slow tracks

 

[Bhaijaan]

Kohli by far.

He went to Australia, South Africa and England as captain and played total 12 tests in 3 of the toughest tours in world cricket.

With all the media attention, pressure that is on him, i'd say he came out well and truly on top both as a player and as captain. He could have won in both South Africa and England had his batters showed some character.

4 test wins in an year in SENA nations for an Asian captain is quite remarkable and who knows it could be 5 wins in a week's time? You have to take into context there are many great Asian test captains who don't even have 4-5 career test wins in SENA Nations. What Kohli has achieved with this team is stuff that builds a legacy.


Williamson is a wonderful person and a leader and he is always right up there in my eyes and i don't have to look at the records for it. His achievement in UAE is phenomenal he did what many teams couldn't before him.

Apart from that NZ's been on a roll. I am not sure though if his achievements i can put ahead of Kohli's. With all due respect i don't see them doing in Aus,RSA, England what Kohli did.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Root was much better in Sri Lanka than against India. I thought he came well short against India as batsman and as leader and was very very lucky to have bailed himself out with an evantual 4-1 scoreline which doesn't reflect at all hwo miserable England were for 80% part in that series.

 

[Mamoon]

After the disastrous Ashes and his own form down, things could have gone from bad to worse for England. However, Root did very well to regroup the team that now sits pretty at number two and is in a very good shape to build on it.

He is still not at his best individually, but the hundred in Sri Lanka was one of the knocks of the year.

The inclusion of Buttler, Foakes and Curran has added a new dimension. If they can unearth a genuine fast bowler to make things happen on dead tracks, it will be very hard to dislodge them from the top two/top three for a few years.

 

[aukhan]

For me its Kohli followed by Williamson.

 

[Varun]

Williamson, Kohli and Root all have merits.

 

[Sidilicious]

Williamson, Kohli and Root all have merits.

Kohli would have had his name etched in history as one of the greatest captain had he not made 2-3 simple selection mistakes in the 1st test in SA and the 1st in England.

Now, he just had a good year.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

No one rating Faf? He may not be in the best of form, but he's a top-tier captain.

 

[Gullycricket]

I will go with Root.In Srilanka he was brilliant with attacking fields and clean swept .Also 4-1 over the No1 team in tests.He is leading a future ATG squad

 

[ARK Rafay]

Williamson

 

[MenInG]

Williamson for me as well as he won against Pakistan in the UAE which is as alien in terms of conditions as it gets

 

[Swashbuckler]

Easy choice- Kane Williamson, he reminds me of Mark Taylor but of course a far better batsman. Kiwis have been lucky to have had the services of outstanding captains (Crowe, Wright, Fleming, McCullum, Kane), this is a crucial factor in making them such persistent overachievers. I see them winning next year's WC mainly because of King Kane.

Kohli has been the worst, I don't need stats thrown at me to defend him. His blunders in SENA are there for all to see. With a half competent captain we would have won 7-8 matches instead of 4.

 

[Stalin]

Kane Williamson by a country mile.

A bizarre ashes and NZ test tour for Root made him fall behind, but he was quite good against India at home and in Sri Lanka . So, he's second best.

Kohli , well..... It could have been so much more for India in 2018 , If not for Kohli's captaincy in SA and Eng.

FAF will be fourth with wins against India and Australia at home. Then that 2-0 to Sri Lanka spoiled the year for him.

The lesser talked about the rest of the captains , the better.

 

[ind_win]

If NZ can have another batsmen in the place of constantly failing taylor, they could very well be zooming towards the #2 position, if not #1 in 2 years or so.

KW is the best captain for me.
He did basics right.
Picking most players right, performed for the team, did not over-expect from players.
If he could have 1-2 more attacking batsmen, they will give more tougher competition.
Most NZ batsmen are like accumulators, if they get going it is ok.
If they fail, too much pressure on the top players like KW.

 

[Sidilicious]

Kane Williamson by a country mile.

A bizarre ashes and NZ test tour for Root made him fall behind, but he was quite good against India at home and in Sri Lanka . So, he's second best.

Kohli , well..... It could have been so much more for India in 2018 , If not for Kohli's captaincy in SA and Eng.

FAF will be fourth with wins against India and Australia at home. Then that 2-0 to Sri Lanka spoiled the year for him.

The lesser talked about the rest of the captains , the better.

All Kohli had to do was to pick the right team for 4 tests - 1s and 2nd test against SA, and 1st and 2nd test against Eng. We would have won one of the tests in SA, and probably also the 1st one in Eng. He would have been called one of the greatest captains. Alas, not to be.

 

[ILcricket]

Williamson is good .

 

[ind_win]

All Kohli had to do was to pick the right team for 4 tests - 1s and 2nd test against SA, and 1st and 2nd test against Eng. We would have won one of the tests in SA, and probably also the 1st one in Eng. He would have been called one of the greatest captains. Alas, not to be.

with the useless coach and the overbearing nature of kohli, you can expect this.
But I have a feeling he is starting to value little things in cricket, from other batsmen too.
His backing of vihari to go into opening slot was a good move.
Hope he improves - just like a batsman he improves all the time.

 

[big_gamer007]

Easy choice- Kane Williamson, he reminds me of Mark Taylor but of course a far better batsman. Kiwis have been lucky to have had the services of outstanding captains (Crowe, Wright, Fleming, McCullum, Kane), this is a crucial factor in making them such persistent overachievers. I see them winning next year's WC mainly because of King Kane.

Kohli has been the worst, I don't need stats thrown at me to defend him. His blunders in SENA are there for all to see. With a half competent captain we would have won 7-8 matches instead of 4.

Kane Williamson by a country mile.

A bizarre ashes and NZ test tour for Root made him fall behind, but he was quite good against India at home and in Sri Lanka . So, he's second best.

Kohli , well..... It could have been so much more for India in 2018 , If not for Kohli's captaincy in SA and Eng.

FAF will be fourth with wins against India and Australia at home. Then that 2-0 to Sri Lanka spoiled the year for him.

The lesser talked about the rest of the captains , the better.

All Kohli had to do was to pick the right team for 4 tests - 1s and 2nd test against SA, and 1st and 2nd test against Eng. We would have won one of the tests in SA, and probably also the 1st one in Eng. He would have been called one of the greatest captains. Alas, not to be.

What selection blunders? People are harping about rahane and Rahul however they both have been garbage even after their inclusion. Rahane less than Rahul.. The fact is simple Indian batsmen are just not good enough.. We lost because our batting barring kohli is rubbish..

Fans just like to believe we could have won if player X, y or z was in team to make them feel less miserable however truth is the current batting is not just gold enough.. If we had 2000's batting line up with this bowling line up we would have whitewashed or close to whitewashed all three series..

Kohli may or may not be a good captain but losing SA and English series was not his selection fault it was incompetence of batting line up.

 

[hadi123]

Had to vote for Kane Williamson seeing as he led NZ to an away series win in Asia, something hard to do.

 

[Sidilicious]

What selection blunders? People are harping about rahane and Rahul however they both have been garbage even after their inclusion. Rahane less than Rahul.. The fact is simple Indian batsmen are just not good enough.. We lost because our batting barring kohli is rubbish..

Fans just like to believe we could have won if player X, y or z was in team to make them feel less miserable however truth is the current batting is not just gold enough.. If we had 2000's batting line up with this bowling line up we would have whitewashed or close to whitewashed all three series..

Kohli may or may not be a good captain but losing SA and English series was not his selection fault it was incompetence of batting line up.

1st test SA - Rahane should have played instead of Rohit. However bad Rahane is, he is a lot better than Rohit. Rahane was the difference in the 3rd test that we won.

2nd Test SA - Not as big a blunder, but still, Bhuvi should have played. Kohli picked Rohit because of his form against SL at home. Then he left Bhuvi out, despite the fact that Bhuvi was our 2nd best batsman and best bowler in the 1st test. Where is the consistency. Also should have picked Rahane.

1st Test England - Pujara should have played instead of one of Vijay/Rahul/Dhawan. Its crazy to think that the one man who has performed in each of our tests is being kept out by Kohli. This is crazy captaincy.

2nd test - 2 spinners, really?

You might be a Rohit fan in tests, but the fact is that he does not belong to test cricket. And these were all glaring blunders.

 

[Sidilicious]

with the useless coach and the overbearing nature of kohli, you can expect this.
But I have a feeling he is starting to value little things in cricket, from other batsmen too.
His backing of vihari to go into opening slot was a good move.
Hope he improves - just like a batsman he improves all the time.

I had hoped so, but I haven't seen any improvement yet in his captaincy.

Kohli dropped Pujara in SL because he plays so. India loses 1st test. Pujara comes back in the 3rd test, opens and carries his bat to a 100. Does Kohli learn? No. He again drops Pujara in WI and then agains in the 1st test in England.

Shastri and Kohli are hell bent on picking their favourites. Kohli is still a decent captain. He is not very sound tactically and picks the wrong team. He needs a good coach and to turn his ego down and listen to other coaches. If he does so, he will go on to become on of the greatest captains. He leads from he front, and is very inspiring. He has built a strong bowling unit, despite India having most of these bowlers for a while.

 

[big_gamer007]

1st test SA - Rahane should have played instead of Rohit. However bad Rahane is, he is a lot better than Rohit. Rahane was the difference in the 3rd test that we won.

2nd Test SA - Not as big a blunder, but still, Bhuvi should have played. Kohli picked Rohit because of his form against SL at home. Then he left Bhuvi out, despite the fact that Bhuvi was our 2nd best batsman and best bowler in the 1st test. Where is the consistency. Also should have picked Rahane.

1st Test England - Pujara should have played instead of one of Vijay/Rahul/Dhawan. Its crazy to think that the one man who has performed in each of our tests is being kept out by Kohli. This is crazy captaincy.

2nd test - 2 spinners, really?

You might be a Rohit fan in tests, but the fact is that he does not belong to test cricket. And these were all glaring blunders.

It would not have made any difference.. People are saying this because we lost but fact is Rahaneis better than Rohit yes but before the SA series he was in terrible form and Rohit got the nod.. However would Rahane have made a difference? Nope he isn't a kohli or Steve Smith that people are saying we lost because of Rahane not playing chances are he would have been as poor as Rohit if not worse in those tests.

2nd test if you remember the series the conditions were not suitable for Bhuvi.. Ideal conditions for Bhuvi are what were in 1st and 3rd test which offer plenty of swing.. He would not have made any difference.. The bowlers who played did a good job and Bhuvi would not have done any better. So again you are wrong here.
Regarding Rahane being picked again it may or may not have made a difference but people forget Rahane's crap form before the tour albeit it was in India.

1st every one was harping about Rahul not being picked and now when he gets picked you are saying why pujara wasn't picked? Lol
Pujara himself was in poor form if you don't remember. And he averaged like 9 or 10 in the county matches he played. Check his record.

The problem is the player who doesn't play always looks to be better to fans. Be it Rahane, pujara, Shaw, Vijay, Rahul etc.. Truth is none of these players are Sachin, kohli, printing etc.. They are mediocre and their chances of doing good is as much as their chances of failing.. So it's not a noticeable selection blunders.. Only fans think that because we lost..

Regarding Rohit fan I am fan of Indian cricket team not of any player since Sachin retired.. It's not about Rohit or anyone else, everyone was saying same about Rahul and look how he turned out to be.. Fact is when you lose to make yourself feel better you make up excuse and blame things like selection. But in truth the batting is just not good enough..

 

[Hasan123]

Kane Williamson for me.

 

[hadi123]

1st test SA - Rahane should have played instead of Rohit. However bad Rahane is, he is a lot better than Rohit. Rahane was the difference in the 3rd test that we won.

2nd Test SA - Not as big a blunder, but still, Bhuvi should have played. Kohli picked Rohit because of his form against SL at home. Then he left Bhuvi out, despite the fact that Bhuvi was our 2nd best batsman and best bowler in the 1st test. Where is the consistency. Also should have picked Rahane.

1st Test England - Pujara should have played instead of one of Vijay/Rahul/Dhawan. Its crazy to think that the one man who has performed in each of our tests is being kept out by Kohli. This is crazy captaincy.

2nd test - 2 spinners, really?

You might be a Rohit fan in tests, but the fact is that he does not belong to test cricket. And these were all glaring blunders.

True, lots of blunders made by India selection wise for sure and results for sure could have been different!

 

[Stalin]

I think the thread is about Who was the best test captain in 2018. Just stick to it, guys.

 

[The Viper]

Kane Williamson is an intelligent captain who doesn't make as much blunders as Kohli in terms of selection.