5 worst captaincy moves in modern day cricket

Cricket is one of the very few games where a captain has such a big say in the outcome; one mistake, and it could all bust. Here is a compilation of 5 such incidents when the teams were let down by some muddled thinking from the captain and the think-tank. Note: The list is in no particular order

#5 Adam Gilchrist - Declaration v England, Headingley, 2001

The situation is probably less consequential here as compared to the other four entries in the list, as Australia were already 3-0 up in the 2001 Ashes series when the stand-in captain Adam Gilchirst opted for a brave declaration on the fourth day of the 4th Test at Headingly, Leeds.

The visitors gave England a target of 315 with a possible 20 overs left on Day 4 and a full Day 5 to play. With rain playing hide and seek, the declaration showed the typical Aussie intent: push for a win at all cost. However, only 3 overs were possible in the remainder of the day, courtesy bad light followed by heavy rain.

England, riding on Mark Butcher’s unbeaten 173 at a healthy strike-rate and into the final session, ended up victorious with 6 wickets in hand as Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee were taken for more than 4 runs an over.

The outcome made one wonder the need for the declaration with the series already in the bag. Butcher was named as the man-of-the-match.

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#4 Richie Richardson - Promoting tail-enders in 1996 World Cup semi-final

The match situation read 43 runs required off 54 balls with eight wickets in hand when Richie Richardson decided to experiment with the West Indian batting order by promoting two specialist bowlers in Roger Harper and Ottis Gibson ahead of wicket-keeper Jimmy Adams and Keith Arthurton, in a semi-final fixture of a World Cup.

The Caribbean side went on to lose their last 8 wickets for 37 runs – 165/3 to 202/10 – to fall 6 runs short of the target: 208.

It was all Shane Warne show after Glenn McGrath triggered the collapse by getting rid of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Roger Harper in quick succession. Despite Richardson hitting the first ball of the final over for a six, the Windies fell short of the target as attempting a tight single led to the dismissal of Curtly Ambrose before Courtney Walsh lost his stumps to Damien Fleming.

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#3 Mohammad Azharuddin: Opting to field on a turner, World Cup semi-final 1996

The 1996 World Cup semi-final at Eden Gardens is more remembered for the disruptive crowd behaviour that awarded Sri Lanka a win by default. India were staring at defeat with the scoreboard reading 120/8 in 34.1 overs; the crowd enraged at the spineless show started setting fire to some areas in the stands and throwing bottles at the fielders in the deep. The match referee Clive Llyod had no option but to abandon the match and declare the Islanders as the winners.

With the Lankan side boasting the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Dharmasena, the then Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s decision to opt to field on a deck that was expected to take turn put the home team in disadvantage even before the teams had to take the field. Azhar then compounded the issue by promoting Javagal Srinath ahead of Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia; it can, however, be argued that the decision to promote the pace bowler mattered little as the whole team had no answer to the Lankan spin trio after the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar.

With the exception of Tendulkar who looked in total command as long as he was out there during his 88-ball 65, the fact that no other Indian frontline batsman was able to score at more than a strike-rate of 53 says how difficult the deck was turning out to be.

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#2 Michael Clarke: Declaration v India, Hyderabad, 2013

The Australian captain has developed some reputation of sorts for sportive declarations these days, and this is one of those occasions where it went wrong. Australia were playing India at Hyderabad in the second Test of the series after going down at Chennai in the series opener, courtesy Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 224.

Clarke called his batters in by the end of 85th over on Day 1 with his team at 237/9 in their first innings. The skipper himself had made 91 before returning to the pavillion in the previous over. While allowing a No. 10 and No. 11 to bat till one of them actually gets out wouldn’t have made much of a difference, this move of Clarke makes it to the list, as it was taken with the view of being positive. In conditions not supportive to his bowlers, what made Clarke think he could have gained any advantage by opting for an early declaration still remains a puzzle. It was a low-risk decision to make matters even worse.

And, as expected, the move bore no fruits. Even though Virender Sehwag fell early on Day 2, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 370-run second wicket stand and Ravichandran Ashwin’s 5-for meant the visitors lost the match by an innings and 135 runs. Australia also went on to lose the next two Tests and were whitewashed 4-0.

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#1 Sourav Ganguly: Opting to field in 2003 World Cup final

Right from the very first delivery bowled by Zaheer Khan, which was a no ball, nothing went right for the Indians in the final match of the 2003 World Cup, against Australia. Winning the toss, you would expect your experienced lot to soak up the big match pressure, considering the stage and the opposition’s calibre. Instead, the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly chose to shield his batting that boasted the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and himself and let an inexperienced bowling unit face the music.

The match turned into a one-sided contest as Australia went on to pile 359/2 with their captain Ricky Ponting scoring an unbeaten 140 off just 121 balls.

There were different justifications given for the strange decision: 125 all out in the group stage match while batting first against the same opposition playing in his minds, rain threat in the second innings, a damp outfield created by rain and dew on previous day, etc. But, as a captain, you can’t go around excusing yourself that way.

The media even went on to describe the move as something Ganguly will regret for the rest of his life. India, in reply, could only muster 234 before being bundled out in 40 overs. Given the fact that only twice have the chasing teams won the World Cup till now makes the decision a more debatable one.