Whom would you prefer as the captain of your team out of these names?

[Hitman]

Now this is going to be interesting. I'm going to name same great names, and I'd like you to pick the player whom you would like to captain your team. Here are those names -

Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Imran Khan, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sourav Ganguly.

Alright, time for me to take my pick. I'd pick Imran Khan without thinking twice. Before Imran, Pakistan was a team of nothing, absolutely no one took them seriously. It's Imran Khan who changed everything and made everyone in the cricketing fraternity take them seriously. No other captain of any other team in my mind took their team from absolute nobodies to being the World Cup Winners in 1992. Imran Khan not just made Pakistan proud, he made the entire sub continent proud.

 

[JattMaula]

Ranatunga for me.

Literally made Srilanka a top team out of minnows.

 

[Hitman]

Ranatunga for me.

Literally made Srilanka a top team out of minnows.

Another fantastic captain.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Imran or Clive Lloyd

 

[Hitman]

Being an Indian fan I'd like to say something. I remember someone, probably Hanif Mohammad, say in the past that Sachin is the pride of the subcontinent. I can say without bias that Imran Khan was and will always be the pride of the subcontinent as well, even for us Indians.

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Allan Border or Steve Waugh.
Totally uncompromising characters who led from the front. A crisis was what stimulated them the most (very much "come the moment, come the man")
It's what we need -- a captain with grit, character (and considerable talent, of course)

 

[Mamoon]

Ganguly.

 

[Buffet]

Mark Taylor

 

[Robert]

Imran, because you also get one of the best fast bowlers of all time as well.

Though if he couldn't bowl due to shin splints, I'd go for Big Clive.

 

[Vayuu]

My pick as captain,
In ranking
Lloyd,
Border
Taylor
Ganguly,
Imran
Ranatunga
Chappell

 

[GullyCricketFlop]

Imran Khan.

Allan Border would be my next choice

 

[silent ischemia]

Dada.... what india is today owes it alot to the prince of kolkota
One my favourite cricketers of all time

 

[Vayuu]

Dada.... what india is today owes it alot to the prince of kolkota
One my favourite cricketers of all time

This. .to take out country from the mess of fixing and make them a very competitive unit even outside India, not to forget gave us players like yuvi, sehwag, bhajji, zak, nehra, was something unbelievable.

 

[MMHS]

Tough choice between Imran & Chappel for me. I think, I'll go to Ian for some such XI.

Imran was the greatest motivator & a fierce competitor, but he wasn't tactically that sound (when we consider the best of the best). For a team like PAK with lots of fraction in the team, poor administration, flawed system & biased team selection; Imran was an ideal leader, but he was more of a leader than cricket captain.

Ian was extremely cunning, aggressive despite being a batting Captain & knew his bowlers probably better than his bowlers themselves knew - he could raise his game when chip were down. Besides, he had unanimous support from his team - once Lillee said that he'll sacrifice his left arm for a Captain like IC. Imran is the Captain for a team like Bangladesh, which is growing with the system still not full functional; Ian is my Captain for a team like AUS, SAF, IND or ENG - stable & disciplined unit, which needs someone to use the resources best.

Imran, Arjuna, Ganguly & AB were one side of this group while Chappel, Lloyd, Steve & Tubby in other side - for any type of selected XI, where you pick the best XII from a pool of stars, the second group should do better, because they were better man managers rather than better motivator & mentor - among them IC was tactically most astute. For any team that is going through a change & need a leader to rebuild, first group is better - of them; Imran was the greatest motivator, visionary & fighter.

If I consider Captain as part of the team & his individual contribution, it's not even a contest - pick any 2 players from this list - it'll be tough to match the impact of one Imran.

 

[soso_killer]

Neither, I'd take Graeme Smith. One of the toughest cricketers I've ever seen. Cricket was never the only criteria in regards to his captaincy. Coming from one of the highest politicised countries in the world, he led with distinction. But most importantly he led from the front.
I've never seen a greater leader of men.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Imran Khan.

 

[Hasan123]

Steve Waugh. Clutch, fighter, warrior.

 

[Rayyman]

Definitely Imran Khan.