Cricket is not just a sport, but a passion for billions of fans across the globe. And every time there comes a player who compels them to glorify their presence, he is welcomed with cheers. A player steps on the field and assures the spectators that what they will see one of the finest displays of cricket. The players give their best and eventually some of them grow and become celebrated cricketers by the end of their career.
Over the years, we have also seen such cricketers in the role of skippers for their international team. More than their skills as a player, it depended upon their ability to lead. The selection of the players is highly dependent on the captains. Although the captaincy is an honourable post, it has its share of hitches.
Apart from playing a role of the captain, they also have an another facet. While the players have to only manage their own individuality. We expect even more from a leader. They are judged not only be their individual performance on the field but also by the team’s performance. We look up to them to set an example for others to follow.
We have seen players who gave brilliant performances whilst also leading their nation to glory. Some of them have gone on to be the most successful captains because they proved their talent on the field and led the side with their impeccable leaderships skills. Here, we will compare two such fantastic players.
Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, is one of the most respected cricketers. When his bat roared, not many bowlers could counter his strokes. He created records for himself and gave some memorable performances, leading Indian to victory by the will of his willow.
After having mesmerised everyone with his skills, he was responsible for leading the Indian Cricket team. Taking over in the midst of the match-fixing crisis, Ganguly moulded the players into what we today know as Team India.
On the other hand, Graeme Smith, the former captain of South Africa is one of the most lauded players. Hailed as one of the best players from South Africa, Smith has had an incredible journey in cricket. He astonished the world with his batting abilities and soon took over the team following their debacle in the 2003 World Cup. He is now the most successful captain in the world.
These two men were one of a kind both as a player and as a captain. But it's a sport after all and between two players, one will always be there. Cricket being a game of statistics, here we have compared the two based on their career figures.
Ganguly or Smith? Read on to decide.
#1 Runs
Both Ganguly and Smith are known for their aggressive batting. The duo has played crucial match-winning innings for their respective teams.
Tests
In Tests, Smith leads the race. With a strike rate of 59.67, he scored a total of 9265 runs in 205 innings. In 2003, during the team's England tour, he scored 259 which is the highest score made by a foreigner at Lord's.
Well, Ganguly is not too far behind. He maintained a strike rate of 51.27 in is Test career and made a total of 7,212 runs.
| Mathes | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graeme Smith | 117 | 205 | 9266 | 277 | 27 | 38 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 113 | 188 | 7212 | 239 | 16 | 35 |
ODI Cricket
If Smith leads in Tests, Ganguly ruled ODIs. This left-handed batsman was a nightmare to the bowlers when it came to ODIs. He scored 183 runs against Sri Lanka in 1999 which is also his highest score.
| Mathes | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graeme Smith | 197 | 194 | 6989 | 141 | 10 | 47 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 311 | 300 | 11363 | 183 | 22 | 72 |
# 2 Average
Both Ganguly and Smith belong to that class of batsmen for whom the audience applauded because of their spectacular batting skills. Amidst building high scores and creating records, both of them maintained noteworthy batting averages in Tests as well as ODIs. However, Smith again leads the table when it comes to Tests but Ganguly has the crown when it is about ODIs (by a considerable margin).
| Tests | ODIs | |
|---|---|---|
| Graeme Smith | 48.25 | 37.98 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 42.17 | 41.05 |
# 3 Matches won as captains
When a player becomes the captain, he inculcates his personal style of playing into the team. Ganguly played a major role in creating a young team which started taking the international matches with a whole new sense of competition. He changed the way the world saw the Indian Cricket team.
Smith, too brought his aggression into his team and made it more expansive. He is, in fact, the most successful Test captain in the history of Cricket.
Tests
Smith is the most successful Test captain in the history of Cricket in terms of the total matches won. Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, is in 16th position on the list.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graeme Smith | 108 | 53 | 28 | 27 | 49.07% |
| Sourav Ganguly | 49 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 42.6% |
ODIs
When it comes to this format, the players have a neck-to-neck competition where Smith is just one rank ahead of Ganguly being 7th and 8th respectively on the list of the most successful ODI captains.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graeme Smith | 150 | 92 | 51 | 1 | 6 | 64.23% |
| Sourav Ganguly | 147 | 76 | 66 | 0 | 5 | 53.52% |
# 4 Highest individual scores
Sourav Ganguly and Graeme Smith are known for their aggressive batting. Irrespective of the style of bowling, the two knew the best answers for them. They made centuries and helped their team construct high targets and chase them down. Here, the top five scores by each of them in the Test and ODI formats have been listed below.
Tests
| Score | Innings | Against | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 239 | 1 | Pakistan | Home | Draw |
| 173 | 2 | Sri Lanka | Home | Draw |
| 147 | 2 | Sri Lanka | Away | Draw |
| 144 | 2 | Australia | Away | Draw |
| 136* | 2 | Zimbawe | Home | Won |
| Score | Innings | Against | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 277 | 1 | England | Away | Drawn |
| 259 | 2 | England | Away | Won |
| 234 | 1 | Bangladesh | Away | Won |
| 232 | 2 | Pakistan | Neutral | Won |
| 200 | 1 | Bangladesh | Home | Won |
ODIs
| Score | Against | Strike Rate | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 183 | Sri Lanka | 115.82 | Neutral | Won |
| 153* | New Zeland | 102 | Home | Won |
| 144 | Zimbawe | 94.73 | Home | Won |
| 141* | South Africa | 99.29 | Neutral | Won |
| 141 | Pakistan | 97.91 | Neutral | Won |
| Score | Aganist | Strike Rate | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 | England | 105.22 | Home | Lost |
| 134* | India | 108.06 | Away | Won |
| 125 | Sri Lanka | 87.41 | Home | Lost |
| 119* | Australia | 95.96 | Home | Won |
| 117 | Zimbawe | 90.69 | Home | Won |
# 5 Rankings
Tests
In this format, Smith has conveniently beaten Ganguly. The long format was not favourable for the latter throughout his career and despite few memorable innings, Ganguly was unable to spread similar charm of his batting in Test Cricket as he had in ODIs.
| Highest Ranking | Highest Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Sourav Ganguly | 8 | 713 |
| Graeme Smith | 2 | 843 |
ODIs
Throughout the comparison, we have seen a close tussle between Ganguly and Smith. But this data, in the end, makes it all clear. Their rankings differ by one spot and Smith defeats Ganguly in the ODI rankings as well.
| Highest Ranking | Highest Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Sourav Ganguly | 2 | 844 |
| Graeme Smith | 1 | 784 |
Statistics highly dominate Cricket. A record built over several years is enough to determine who is the best. Both these players have a very close competition and the idea that one was able to beat another can appear unpleasant.
But the stats have revealed who leads this race and it’s the player who led the Proteas, Graeme Smith.
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