5 players who were surprisingly handed over the captaincy 

Captaincy in international cricket has always been pretty hard to come by. The competition for captaincy has been cut-throat and there is no doubt that leading the country is one of the most important things on every international cricketer's checklist.

Having said that, not all great players have excelled in handling the team responsibility and not all deserving candidates have been able to lay their hands on the captaincy. While greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara failed to live up to expectations, brilliant cricketing brains such as Shane Warne were largely overlooked for the role.

And, still there are players who were handed the captaincy out of nowhere. These players weren't really expected to be captains of their sides but due to unusual circumstances were given the responsibility of leading the sides. Here are 5 such players who were handed over captaincy surprisingly.

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#5 Dimuth Karunaratne - Sri Lanka (ODIs)

Dimuth Karunaratne

Lasith Malinga was named the captain of the Sri Lankan ODI side in the build up to the 2019 World Cup.

However, after the drubbing in the ODI series against South Africa, there were serious doubts about Malinga as captain for the tournament.

On the other hand, Dimuth Karunaratne led Sri Lanka to a historic series win in the Tests against the Proteas, for which he received huge accolades. Owing to the results in the Test series, Karunaratne not only made a comeback to the ODI side for the World Cup but was also named the captain of the Sri Lankan contingent for the marquee event.

And even though Sri Lanka failed to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament, Karunaratne was retained as the ODI captain post the World Cup and he is now seen as a long-term captaincy prospect across formats.

Also see – World Test Championship points table

#4 Kieron Pollard - West Indies (ODIs and T20s)

Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard is one of the most sought after T20 players in the world but unfortunately, his contributions to West Indian cricket have been minimal. Pollard has often preferred playing various T20 leagues across the globe over representing the West Indies.

And, perhaps explains why the Trinidadian has played just 101 ODIs since making his debut in 2006. Pollard wasn't included in the West Indies' World Cup squad, raising questions about his future in West Indies cricket.

However, in an interesting turn of events, the all-rounder was recently handed the reins of the West Indian ODI and T20 sides.

The West Indies was considered to be the dark horse of the 2019 World Cup. However, they failed to live up to their billing, which eventually might have triggered the change of captaincy. Pollard last played an ODI for the Caribbean outfit way back in 2016 and thus, it will be interesting to see how he approaches the new role assigned to him.

#3 Tim Paine - Australia (Tests and ODIs)

Tim Paine

In 2017, Tim Paine was on the verge of retiring from international cricket before being picked in the Ashes squad in 2017.

Some steady performances in the series gave Paine's diminishing career a fresh lease of life. A few months later, Australia faced a serious leadership crisis as the captain and the vice-captain of the team were banned from international cricket for a year following the infamous ball tempering saga in South Africa.

The Australian selectors took a huge call and named Paine as the captain of the Australian side. Though the wicket-keeper was removed as the ODI captain following some heavy defeats, he fared a tad better in Tests.

After the initial setbacks, Paine finally found some success when Australia defeated Sri Lanka in a 2-match home series. However, Paine's biggest achievement as the Australian captain so far has been to retain the Ashes in a hard-fought series on England soil.

#2 Anil Kumble - India (Tests)

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble has been one of the greatest servants of Indian cricket. India's highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs, Kumble possessed a sharp cricketing mind and was a brilliant reader of the game.

Unfortunately, he was never really considered for the captaincy until the fag end of his career. After a historic Test series win against England, Rahul Dravid resigned as the Indian captain. MS Dhoni, who by then had led India to the World T20 triumph, was the front-runner for the post. But, the selectors felt that Dhoni needed to be given a little more time to settle as the captain in ODIs and T20s before handing him the captaincy in Tests.

Thus, Anil Kumble was handed over the captaincy at the age of 37. Even though Jumbo's captaincy tenure was quite sort, he will always be remembered for leading the side to victory in the famous Perth Test against Australia in 2007-08, in what was one of the most cherished wins in the history of Indian cricket.

#1 Graeme Smith - South Africa

Graeme Smith

Following South Africa's 2003 World Cup debacle, Shaun Pollock was removed as captain of the side. And, despite the presence of senior players in the side, 22-year-old Graeme Smith was chosen to lead the Proteas.

Smith displayed immense confidence in leading the side as South Africa became a force to reckon with in international cricket. The opener succeeded as a batsman too as he scored runs consistently at the top of the order.

The left-hander led South Africa to consecutive World Cup semi-finals in 2007 and 2011. Smith also shepherded South Africa to some memorable wins in Tests and took the team to the perch of the ICC Test rankings.

Smith backed the likes of Dale Steyn, Ab de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Morne Morkel, all of whom went on to establish themselves as greats of South African cricket. Smith led his side in 109 Tests and remains the most by any player in the history of the game.

His record of 53 Test wins as a captain has also survived the ravages of time.