Who is the best international captain currently?

Surfer · #1 September 19, 2009, 06:30 PM

Your impression leading up to the 2011 WC?

Australia- Ponting has been more exposed with time IMO. As he lost some of his best guys, he has looked lost in times of difficulty. Losing the Ashes to England is a sin. He has now sinned twice.

Bangladesh- Shakib Al Hasan- First ever series victory for Bangladesh, but I guess yet to do a lot to come anywhere close to being called the best international captain.

England: Strauss- The Ashes winner. But there is cricket outside Ashes. Almost approaching a 7-0 in ODIs.

India- Dhoni- Yet to lose a test match. Great turn around for India winning more than ever before. But too early to call?

New Zealand: Dan is a superb man. Leads from the front. But results??

Pakistan: YK won the T20 WC. Lost heavily to Lanka. But too early to call either ways?

SA: Smith is cool, but yet to break out of SA's chokers tag. May be CT?

Sri Lanka: Sanga has great results in his small career, but all at home. Too early IMO.

WI: Forget it.

nzfan · #2 September 19, 2009, 06:40 PM

New Zealand always seems to have far above average captains

But if the players aren't there, what can you do, players like ponting are classed as good captains just because of their results, but who says the results are caused by him, it wouldn't of had anything to do with an amazing batting and bowling and fielding line up would it?

Surfer · #3 September 19, 2009, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nzfan
New Zealand always seems to have far above average captains

But if the players aren't there, what can you do, players like ponting are classed as good captains just because of their results, but who says the results are caused by him, it wouldn't of had anything to do with an amazing batting and bowling and fielding line up would it?

Agree with you. IMO Dan is a very good captain. Very level headed, leads by example and uses his resources well. Results are never the criteria. Ponting wins because of a good team, not because he is a great captain. In fact, he is a very average captain.

Rifat · #4 September 19, 2009, 07:03 PM

My Vote goes out for Shakib-AL-hasan: for many reasons...:

not just because of my bias towards my own nationality, but also how he exemplified himself in and out of the field in the recent past.

also, he took the place of another captain, be it a weakened West Indian Team, he is a good strategist and knows how to motivate the team

mahbubH · #5 September 19, 2009, 07:06 PM

YK I think.

Surfer · #6 September 19, 2009, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rifat
My Vote goes out for Shakib-AL-hasan: for many reasons...:

not just because of my bias towards my own nationality, but also how he exemplified himself in and out of the field in the recent past.

also, he took the place of another captain, be it a weakened West Indian Team, he is a good strategist and knows how to motivate the team

Oh, c'mon. He has to do more than that to be called the best. Dhoni tookover mid series against the best team in the world from a clueless Kumble and won two straight ones. Don't you think that qualifies asa better show than winning against a bunch of unherad of players?

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One World · #7 September 19, 2009, 09:00 PM

The best captain is Smith.
Dhoni is not a captain, nobody really cares about his existence.

nzfan · #8 September 19, 2009, 09:23 PM

Don't getr angry one world

Shakib just needs to captain for longer before his true abilities are shown, currently it looks pretty good

Ashraful and Bashar for some reason liked setting defensive fields which let opposition batsman merrily accumulate runs, while shakib doesn't He is also the best player in the team and leads by example so the other players can look up to him

Shabhu · #9 September 19, 2009, 09:28 PM

I'd say Dan Vettori, he's been a great captain for NZ during their tough times and has continually performed well with both bat and ball as captain. He is an inspiring player.

_Rafi_ · #10 September 20, 2009, 01:03 AM

GC SMITH. He is the one who takeover captaincy at very early age and improving day by day. He starts his captaincy tentatively but he learnt from mistake.
Ponting is good captain but not good enough.
Sanga so far is not very promising. He is more defencive
Dhoni the lucky gambler. Captaining significantly but yet to win test series in SouthAfrica.
Strauss,Shakib,Reifer,Younis- just started career, nothing to say.
Vettori- Selector+captain. Most powerfull captain for a single team. He has to do lot of work to make this mediocre team competitive as Steven Fleming did.

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Surfer · #11 September 20, 2009, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One World
The best captain is Smith.
Dhoni is not a captain, nobody really cares about his existence.

What is Dhoni then? Care to elaborate?

Imteaz · #12 September 20, 2009, 10:49 AM

Tough Question.

Isnaad · #13 September 20, 2009, 11:00 PM

I was actually very impressed of Vettori......Shakib will prove to be the best in 5 to 7 years time...

Isnaad · #14 September 20, 2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfer
What is Dhoni then? Care to elaborate?

Just my opinion- Dhoni is a good player and has good strategies...moreover, he got the advantage that his team is performing better than b4...Problem is, he is TOO calm for a captain.

Abid_Khan · #15 September 21, 2009, 02:44 AM

Dan Vettori - Leads from the front with bowling and batting nowadays. He's more reliable and is someone the rest of the team can look up to.

One World · #16 September 21, 2009, 04:38 AM

I sometimes doubt even if MSD is a cricketer.

Baundule · #17 September 21, 2009, 05:04 AM

IMO, Sanga is the most intelligent cricketer at the moment. So, it goes for his captaincy as well.

Surfer · #18 September 21, 2009, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One World
The best captain is Smith.
Dhoni is not a captain, nobody really cares about his existence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by One World
I sometimes doubt even if MSD is a cricketer.

Seems you are a one liner kind of guy. You never bother to explain anything. Whatever makes you happy!!

Baundule · #19 September 21, 2009, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One World
I sometimes doubt even if MSD is a cricketer.

he he, agune ghi dhaila disen.

*AsifTheManRahman* · #20 September 21, 2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One World
The best captain is Smith.
Dhoni is not a captain, nobody really cares about his existence.

Yes and yes.

Ganguly >>>>> Dhoni

Purbasha T · #21 September 21, 2009, 02:12 PM

Exclude the BD captain before publishing the poll....looool!

BTW, I voted for Shakib-Al-Hasan too. Well, at least he is the best stats-wise or winning ratio-wise.

Umm, but okay; among the long-serving ones, I like Vettori.

And among the former ones (though not asked), Ganguly is the MAAAAAAAN.

Dhruvo · #22 September 21, 2009, 03:35 PM

Smith IMO is a good captain and perhaps the best in my opinion. Shakib has the potential to become the best captain, but right now he isn't because he hasn't played enough matches as captain.

zman · #23 September 23, 2009, 09:43 PM

Here's my rankings...

1. Smith-- very good captain, leads a tremendously talented team and their recent performances bear it out
2. Dan & YK-- very good captains, unfortunately their team mates are too inconsistent and have underperformed thus far
3. Shakib-- very good captain, has the potential to be the best in the world, great out of the box thinker, possesses amazing cricketing sense-- being a great all rounder has provided him with the ability and vision to observe the game through the eyes of both a batsman and a bowler. Unfortunately he can only go as far as his team mates will allow him to go.
4. Strauss-- good captain and has the potential to get much better with experience.
5. Ponting-- used to be one of the best if not the best, but has lost his mojo in recent times.
6. Sanga & Dhoni-- great cricketers, average captains. Nobody recalls India ever winning a match for Dhoni's great captaincy, they only win when their powerful batting line up clicks. Almost the same could be said about Sanga except that SL's batting is weaker than India's, but their bowling dept. is stronger.

One World · #24 September 23, 2009, 10:45 PM

^ Very good post.
As for number four I doubt anybody can lead the English. They need a Paul Gascoigne of Cricket for the job.

*AsifTheManRahman* · #25 September 24, 2009, 03:34 PM

Here's a man I generally have a lot of respect for and the following interview (cut in two pieces) adds to my admiration of the way he goes about his business:

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/con...ry/425962.html
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/con...ry/425971.html

Not a Pakistani supporter of any sort, but I do feel for their players, who are ambassadors of the game fighting hard to give their country a good name while constantly being let down by the government and the political situation at home. Not easy at all.

The best international captain, though, is still Shakib Al Hasan.