Even in a world dominated by slog-hitting and the boom of T20 culture, inarguably, the best form of cricket is still Test cricket. It is a test of the mettle of the players of both teams. Held over a grueling 5-day long format, Test cricket is the oldest form of cricket with a history of more than 150 years.

ODI cricket, even though it has its stronghold, only developed in the later stages of the 20th century. Up until then, cricket was only played in one format, Tests. 

Summary of Test Cricket

Test Cricket between international teams has been played since 1877 but it has only been recognized as an official format since 1890.  

The first official test match was played on the Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG) in 1877 between the Australian XI and James Lillywhite’s XI which was the English team back then. English professionals went on to visit Australia to play a test match.

Over the years,  several rules of Test cricket have been changed. Today, there are officially twelve full-time ICC member countries in test cricket. One of the major incidents in the history of Test cricket was the introduction of Day/Night Tests which got the approval of the ICC in 2012.

Eventually, three years later, the First Day/Night Test match was played between Australia and New Zealand team in 2015.

Role of a Captain in Test Cricket

The role of a captain in a Test match is highly important. Whether it is about choosing the starting XI or taking crucial decisions throughout the five days, a captain has to be highly aware of his team’s circumstances in the match and come out with apt offensive and defensive strategies.

A captain of a Test team needs to closely observe and follow the game, make crucial bowling changes and immaculate fielding placements, and come up with changes in the batting lineup as per the need of the hour.

Over the years, we have seen many captains but there are a few whose performances and stats that just stand out among the others. Here, we will check out the stats of the best five Test cricket captains ever who have marked their name in the Test format.

Best Captains in Test Cricket: Stats

Here are the stats of the best Test captains highlight the crucial figures and key markers of their achievements.- 

Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith, a South African opening batsman, was put on the captain’s hat in 2003 when he was in his early twenties. But that boy went on to hold the captaincy right till his retirement from Test cricket in 2014. Such a dominating captain he was for South Africa in Test cricket.

Smith played 117 tests, scoring 9,265 runs with a batting average of 48.25. He scored 27 centuries in his career with a top score of an unbelievable 277.

To date, he stands out as the best Test captain ever with the maximum number of wins under his belt. He won 53 test matches as a captain over 11 years. Apart from this he also remains the only captain to have led a test team on more than a hundred occasions.    

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting is often considered the best all-around captain for Australia. Even in Test cricket, his exemplary leadership took Australia to new heights. Often cricket pundits consider the time of 2004 till 2011 as the golden generation for the Australian Cricket team in Test Cricket during which none other than Ponting was at the helm of handling responsibilities.

He retired from test cricket in 2012 playing a total of 168 tests and scoring a towering 13,378 runs. Ponting’s batting average of 51.85 shows that he is one of the best Test players of the modern generation. He went on to score 41 hundreds and 62 fifties. Ponting scored his highest magnificent 257 runs at the MCG.

As a captain, he represented Australia in 77 matches and won 48 of them. Throughout his career, he just lost 16 matches. Under his leadership, Australia made a 16-match winning streak.  

Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh was a legend for the Kangaroos, particularly in Test cricket. Often considered to be a humble man, he has had a deep passion to contribute to his team’s wins. The legendary cricketer played a total of 168 Test matches for his side scoring a pile of 10,927 runs. 

With a batting average of 51.06, he is one of the most exemplary batsmen in this format. He smashed 32 hundred along with 50 fifties with a top score of 200. Steve Waugh also has 92 wickets to his name in Test cricket with the best bowling figure of 5/28.

He is aptly considered one of the best Test captains due to his high win percentage of 72. Steve Waugh led the Australian team in 57 Test matches winning 41 of them and losing just 9.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is considered by many to be one of the best Test Cricket captains India has produced. He took over the captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2014 and donned and anchored his leadership role in the longest format of the game until 2022. Nevertheless, he is still one of the pillars in the Indian Test batting lineup.

In total, Kohli has played 102 matches until now and has scored 8,074 runs with a batting average nearing fifty. He has smashed 27 hundreds so far with his top score being 254 not out. As a captain, he has represented his side for 68 matches winning 40 of them along with 17 losses and 11 draws.

Clive Lloyd

Sir Clive Lloyd is often regarded as one of the finest captains Test cricket has ever produced. In his debut match on 13th December 1966 against India, Lloyd scored 82 and 78 not out in the first and second innings respectively.

The big cat who was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009, played a total of 110 tests in his career. He amassed 7,515 runs with a healthy batting average of 46.67 and a top score of 242 not out.

He scored just 19 hundreds and 39 fifties in his Test cricket career. That being said, his batting legend for West Indies had scrapped 10 wickets in his illustrious career with the best bowling figures of 2 wickets for 13 runs.

He captained West Indies in 74 tests winning 36 and losing 12. Even to this date, his 36 test wins have only been bettered by four other captains as given above. During his captaincy, the West Indies went on to achieve many accomplishments including a 26-match unbeaten streak that included 11 wins on the trot.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, Test cricket is so much more than just the stats. Captains need to think in terms of complex scenarios of the game and have long term and short term ideas both while batting and fielding in the field. 

Test cricket is the most primeval and thus, a highly celebrated form of cricket in history. It’s not just about physical capabilities of a player here, Test cricket tests a player’s ability to maneuver his mental strength in the best and worst situations of the game giving birth to some of the original legends of cricket which is why it still remains a fan favorite till date. We hope you had fun learning about the most successful captains ever in test cricket today. Stay tuned for more!