5 popular captains who were dismissed for a duck on ODI debut

Some players send signals on their debut by scoring a century or even a double century. While some of the players have a decent game on their debut and continue to improve from there, there are few cricketers who were dismissed for a duck on their ODI debuts but went on to become great players, had an impact of their own and were fortunate enough to lead their side.

Here, we look at five popular cricketers who had a horrific start to their one-day career but eventually became captains of their respective countries.

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#5 Angelo Mathews

Angelo Mathews is the backbone of current Sri Lankan team and is also responsible for some of the most famous victories of Sri Lanka, the most recent being the one where Mathews led the team successfully to win against India chasing 322 in ICC Champions trophy 2017. His heroics are enough on a large number of occasions to take Sri Lanka over the finishing line.

As a batsman, he is known as a power hitter who can hit the ball out of the park with ease. On his day, he is a nightmare even to some of the world's best bowlers.

Mathews played his first ODI on 28th November, 2008, against Zimbabwe. Sri Lankan team won the toss and chose to bowl first and bundled out Zimbabwe for a mere 146 in 46.3 overs, thanks to Mendis' 6/29.

Coming in to bat when the scoreboard read 101-6, after facing eight deliveries, Mathews was dismissed by Ray Price on the ninth delivery for naught on his debut innings.

Sri Lanka went on to win the game thanks to Jehan Mubarak's 60(98). Mendis was rightly adjudged man of the match for his six wickets.

Angelo Mathews eventually went on to become the captain of Sri Lanka in ODIs when India toured Sri Lanka for a five-match series in 2012. India went on to clinch the series 4-1.

#4 Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik of Pakistan

Shoaib Malik is a true all-rounder. He is known as an excellent fielder, a really good batsman and a good middle overs bowler who can give that crucial break, getting out a set batsman to break the partnership. He can bat at any position and anchor the innings.

With sheer timing, he can clear the boundary line without any problem. A very experienced player, he has featured in 261 ODIs for Pakistan and scored 6975 runs with an average of 35.23.

Shoaib made his debut on 15th October, 1999, against Sri Lanka in the Coca-Cola champions trophy. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. It was a very low scoring thriller that ended in a tie. Batting first, Sri Lanka got all-out for 196 in 49.4 overs.

Chasing a very low score of 197, Pakistan lost some crucial wickets at regular intervals. Three of their batsmen were run-out and Shoaib Malik who came in to bat at No. 10 got caught and bowled in Jayasuriya's over. Russell Arnold took Arshad Khan's wicket that ended Pakistan's innings at 196 and the game ended in a tie.

Shoaib Malik then went on to become one of the most reliable batsmen for Pakistan batting at any position the team asked him to. He became the captain in the process and has led the team to some great victories with a win percentage of 66.6.

#3 Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson against England

A sensation in the cricket world currently, Kane Williamson is a name that needs no introduction. The New Zealander led his team, Sunrisers Hyderabad to the finals of the recently concluded IPL 2018. He also won the orange cap which is awarded to the player who scores the most number of runs in the tournament. Lauded for his captaincy, Williamson had a forgettable debut game in the ODIs.

Williamson made his debut on 10th August, 2010, day-night game against India in Dambulla. Newzealand won the toss and chose to bat first. Coming in at No. 4 after the dismissal of Ingram when the scoreboard read 27-2, Kane was dismissed on his 9th delivery by Praveen Kumar that pegged back the off-stump. Though New Zealand went on to win the game quite convincingly, Kane had a horrific start to his career.

He then went on to become a superstar with some pundits already calling him one of the all-time greats of Newzealand. With an average of 46.8 in 121 innings, Williamson has now become synonymous to the word consistency.

He took over the captaincy from Brendon McCullum and is now successfully leading his side to victories and New Zealand have become a dominant force to reckon with under his captaincy.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar - One of the all-time greats

Sachin Tendulkar is widely acclaimed as the greatest cricketer of all time. He is the leading run-getter in both ODIs and Test Cricket. He is also the only international cricketer to score 100 centuries. Sachin Tendulkar got his maiden ODI only in his 79th ODI and failed to convert the starts during his earlier ODI days.

Tendulkar made his debut at the age of 16 for India in 1989 against the arch-rivals Pakistan. India won the toss and chose to bowl first in Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala. The match was reduced to 16 overs and Pakistan scored 87 for the loss of 9 wickets.

Chasing a target of 88, India lost some early wickets and were struggling at 34-3. Sachin came to bat at No. 5 along with Azharuddin on the second ball that he faced. It was against Waqar Younis' bowling that Sachin got out caught by Wasim Akram.

India then went on to lose this game by 7 runs. Pakistan also won the series 2-0.

Sachin Tendulkar then became the captain of the Indian side and captained in 73 ODIs but had a very low win percentage of 35.07 and eventually resigned as the captain in 2000.

#1 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni - India's greatest ODI captain

MS Dhoni is arguably India's greatest ODI skipper. He is also one of the greatest finishers this sport has ever seen. He led the Indian team to victories in T20 World Cup in 2007, World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013.

Dhoni who has batted at No. 6 for the most part of his ODI career has always been consistent and reliable. He often had to bat with the tail-enders and his presence at the opposite end gave him confidence. With 9967 runs in 318 ODI matches, MS Dhoni who averages 51.4 is one of the finest cricketers of this sport.

However, he had a forgettable start to his ODI career. During India's tour of Bangladesh in 2004, MS who made his debut in the first game at Chittagong got run-out which happened to be a golden duck. Bangladesh won the toss and put India to bat. MS Dhoni came in at No. 7 after Sriram got out. Dhoni tried to nudge one towards short fine leg for a quick single but was sent back by Kaif as there was never a single there and the fielder was quick enough to throw it to the gloves of the wicket-keeper.

India, however, won the game by 11 runs and MS Dhoni went on to become the greatest Indian skipper in the One-day Internationals.