5 great fast bowlers who would have made great captains

The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy at the England v India - Royal London One-Day Series 2014
As deadly as they get!

Cricket captaincy is as much of an art as it is science. It requires high levels of man management, uncanny ability to make decisions under pressure and the power to defend these actions as well as underperforming teammates before the world media.

More often than not, when the regular captain steps down or picks up an injury, a batsman is chosen as the new man to represent the side. Rarely do bowlers get picked as leaders of a cricketing side.

This has various factors, most of which revolve around the fact that once bowlers are made captains, they tend to under-bowl or over-bowl themselves from time to time.

Let us look at five quick bowlers who would've made great leaders in their time:


#1 Michael Holding

If there has been one bowling attack that has created tremors of fear within the batsmen of the opposition, it was the tremendous group of fast bowlers put together by the West Indies in late 19070s.

Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel and Malcolm Marshall were partners in crime and developed a formidable bowling unit for the West Indian cricket team. Holding, who was nicknamed "Whispering Death" for his fearsome and fast bowling, is one of the greatest cricketers to have stepped onto the cricket pitch.

Between the tremendous success achieved by Clive Lloyd and the massive stature of Viv Richards, Holding did not get the opportunity to walk onto the middle as the captain of West Indies cricket. He continued to be the most menacing soldier they had on the field, but could never become the General of the side.

#4 Dale Steyn

2018 SA v India: South African national cricket team training session
The best fast bowler of this era hasn't led his national side even once!

Dale Steyn's aggressive, never-say-die personality on the field would've made for excellent attributes off a cricketing field as well. The right-arm fast bowler probably is one of the greatest fast bowlers to have represented the Proteas and the best fast bowler of this generation.

In spite of a career riddled by injury and illness, Steyn's performances over the past decade have warranted nothing but respect and admiration from the cricketing community.

The legendary bowler has run in with the ball for South Africa for almost thirteen years now. However, he has never led the national side in this long time span. His enduring struggles with injuries have kept him out of the reckoning, and more consistent faces like Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, and Faf du Plessis were trusted with the reins over the years of Steyn's presence in the side.

#3 James Anderson

WA XI v England - Two Day Tour Match
If numbers are to be believed, Anderson is the greatest bowler to have ever donned the English whites

Alastair Cook left many cricket fans and experts dumbfounded when he decided to step down as the captain of the English side earlier last year. The opening batsman believed that the additional responsibility was adversely affecting his performance with the willow and that he could not underperform as a batsman once again.

The mantle was immediately handed over to a young Joe Root, who has been the exceptional find for England cricket of the past decade. However, James Anderson, the all-time leading wicket-taker for England, had made a substantive case for himself through his consistent performances over thirteen years.

Yet, he was not even among the three possible candidates interviewed by England and Wales Cricket Board back then.

With 523 dismissals at an average of 27.40 over 134 Test matches, the seam bowler continues to be one of the biggest names of English cricket in the longer format of the game. However, despite showing interest in captaincy over the years, it does not look likely that the right-arm bowler will be given that honour in the remainder of his career.

#4 Brett Lee

Australia v India - 2011 ICC World Cup Quarter-Final
He was the promised prince, but could never sit on the prestigious throne!

His pace flummoxed the batsmen, his precision rattled the woodwork! Brett Lee was one of the fastest bowlers in the world during his time, and it is worthy to be noted that he was from the generation that produced speedsters like Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Bond.

In a career that spanned over 13 years, Lee scalped 300 plus wickets in both formats of the game and won two 50-over World Cups with the kangaroos.

The Australian side of the late 1990s and the early 2000s is considered to be one of the best cricketing teams of all time. Getting into the playing XI of this team was an almost impossible task, let alone leading the side.

With a revolutionary captain like Ricky Ponting in the mix, a tremendous leader like Shane Warne never got the chance marshal the Australian troops. With such dynamic excellence in the unit, Lee wasn't even in the contention for captaincy throughout his career with the Australian side, despite boasting of numerous singularly significant achievements.

#5 Zaheer Khan

First Test - Day Two:  India v Australia
Zaheer Khan: the best captain India never had!

In spite of the eminently tactical mind that the former Indian cricketer has, he was never considered as a potential captain in his twelve-year career with Indian cricket.

The 39-year-old is known for his incredible work-ethic and immense knowledge of the game. He was a great servant of Indian cricket in his time with the national side and was vital to the team's success on many occasions.

However, in the dozen years that he represented the Indian team, he was surrounded by legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Anil Kumble in the team. Hence, the onus of leading the side always fell on one of their more-than-capable shoulders.

If they were unavailable, Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir were given the responsibility of captaining the side. Soon after the ICC World Cup 2007, the baton was passed to MS Dhoni, and captaincy wasn't a debatable issue in Indian cricket for a long, long time.

While Khan never got the chance to lead India, it can be argued that it was more of a loss for the team than it was for the left-arm bowler. He will probably go down as the best captain India never had!

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava