5 great cricketers who should have never been made captains

Leading a set of 11 players on a cricket field is certainly not a joke. The role demands leadership skills and immense mental stability to successfully guide the team through various situations.

While some cricketers have emerged unscathed, many couldn't thrive in this role, resulting in a slump in their personal performances. These players not only failed to establish themselves as captains in the long run but also caused the downfall of their respective teams on the whole.

We take a look at five such cricketers who are definitely among their country's all-time greats but could not excel as captains.

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#5 Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla is easily one of the modern-day batting greats. The kingpin of the South African batting lineup was handed the Test captaincy after Graeme Smith's retirement in 2014. As was expected, it was very difficult to replace a captain who had led the team a record 109 times.

Amla though enjoyed a successful initial period, helping the Proteas beat Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and West Indies. He then faced the toughest phase of his captaincy stint.

On South Africa's tour of India, his side was handed a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the hosts, following which they succumbed to England as well. It was during this tour that Amla stepped down as the captain after receiving a lot of flak for his leadership skills.

He led the team in 14 matches out of which the team won 4 and lost 4, with an overall win percentage of 28.6%.

Amla scored 894 runs in his 14 games as a captain. These runs came at a healthy average of 49.66, including 3 centuries.

As expected, Amla once again started anchoring the team's batting responsibilities after stepping down as the captain. In the remaining 95 matches of his career, the South African scored 7684 runs thus far at an average close to 50.

#4 Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff led England in 11 matches out of which the team managed to win only two matches

Andrew Flintoff was once poised to emerge as one of the finest all-rounders of the game. However, owing to frequent injuries, Flintoff had to put a full stop on his cricketing stint much earlier than expected. In a short span of time, the all-rounder bore witness to many things. From rising to become England's most talked about sportsman to facing the brunt of media for his poor captaincy, Flintoff saw it all.

His first assignment as the team's captain was during England's tour of India in 2006. Flintoff impressed one and all when he led England to a famous win in the series' third Test that was played in Mumbai. However, much to the disappointment of his fans, Freddie could not stand to the expectations going into the ODI series. The former skipper even had to face the humiliation of a getting walloped by Australia in the 2006 Ashes.

Flintoff led England in 11 matches out of which the team managed to win only two matches and ended up losing seven matches. During his captaincy stint, Flintoff scored 566 runs at an average of 29.78. While not handling the captaincy, the man from Lancashire scored 3279 runs at an average of 29.54.

#3 Chris Gayle

The flamboyant opener did not enjoy a successful stint as a captain

The name Chris Gayle is synonymous with powerful cricketing shots and monstrous sixes. On a given day, the Jamaican is someone who can decimate any bowling attack.

After Brian Lara's retirement, Chris Gayle was handed over the mantle of leading West Indies. It was expected that Gayle would transform the team into a more dynamic pack with a higher success ratio. But to the contrary, West Indies suffered major losses under his captaincy.

Gayle suffered a slump in his batting form owing to the pressure of leading the team as well. He received heavy criticism from different quarters for his laid-back attitude that led to his inability to inspire the team at crunch moments.

Chris Gayle captained the Windies in a total of 53 matches, out of which the team won only 17. The fact that they lost 30 matches in his tenure put a scar on his captaincy stint.

After getting relieved from the captaincy duties, Gayle once again seemed to be back to his flamboyant best. In fact, he even scored a double hundred in the ODI format during the 2015 ICC World Cup.

#2 Brian Lara

Brian Lara failed to inspire his team with his on-field heroics

Brian Lara is one of the finest players to have played the game. He led the Windies for as many as 9 years from 1997 to 2006. While he had a decent record in the one-dayers, Lara couldn't quite manage to achieve the same in the longer format.

Many found this amusing as a man who possessed an impeccable personal record, could not influence his team with the same might.

Lara couldn't galvanize the Windies into an effectual force and eventually failed in carrying their rich legacy forward. In a total of 47 Test matches under his captaincy, West Indies won a meagre 10 matches.

However, Lara was one of the few players who did not let captaincy affect his personal game. In fact, he is the only one to have scored five centuries while donning the skipper's role. Even his historical 400* against England was during this period.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Captaincy was one of the very few unconquered arts by Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is probably the greatest batsman of all time. The batting maestro has innumerable records to his name, including those of the most number of runs in ODIs and Tests. However, in a career that lasted for about 24 years, one thing that left Sachin disappointed was his record as India's captain.

Sachin had two tenures as the team's captain. His first, in 1996, didn't reap any fruits which raised many eyebrows over his leadership skills. His second tenure, when he succeeded Mohammad Azharuddin, did not turn out to be fruitful either and prompted Sachin to resign as the team's captain.

Even though there were no blemishes in his batting, the master blaster couldn't quite manage to inspire his team to victories.

When Rahul Dravid resigned as India's captain in 2007, the little master was once again offered the role which was politely rejected by him. He, instead, nominated MS Dhoni's name for the same. Sachin led India in 25 Tests out of which the team won only 4 matches.

In Tests, while leading the side, the master-blaster made 2054 runs that included 7 centuries. These runs were made at an impressive average of 51.35. His remaining 13,867 runs were amassed when he wasn't burdened with the role of leading the team.