Rating the last five South African Test captains 

South Africa have been one of the most successful Test teams over the past two and a half decades and although it must be said that most of their success had been down to the fact that they have almost always had a superb team, the contributions of the captain cannot be completely discounted.

Since the fall of their charismatic leader Hansie Cronje, South Africa have had exactly 5 full-time Test captains and they have had varying levels of success over the past 17 years.

Here is a look at how they stack up against each other.

#5 AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers did not have a great time as Test captain

For all intents and purposes, it was thought that AB de Villiers would go on to become one of the greatest South African captains simply because of the fact that he was the best batsmen in the team. He had been the team's one-day international captain and had led South Africa to the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup in Australia.

Around that time, he became a reluctant Test player and by extension, a reluctant captain. However, when Hashim Amla resigned from the captaincy in January 2016 after the draw in the 2nd Test of the 4 match series against England at Cape Town, De Villiers was made the captain.

De Villiers' stint as the captain got off to the worst possible start at Johannesburg as England won the Test by 7 wickets. After England had secured a 10 run first innings lead, South Africa crashed to 83 all out as they had no answer to Stuart Broad (6/17 in 12.1 overs) and the captain himself scored a duck.

However, with the series gone, South Africa won the fourth Test by 280 runs to restore some pride. De Villiers has captained in 3 matches in total and recorded 2 victories. He won't be remembered in South Africa's captaincy hall of hame, unfortunately.

#4 Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla ahead of the fateful series against England

After Graeme Smith retired in 2014, South Africa's premier top-order batsman Hashim Amla was made the Test captain. He also became South Africa's first permanent non-white captain and in his very first series, he led the team to their first series win in Sri Lanka since 1993. South Africa won the two-game Test series 1-0.

Amla, in fact, played the pivotal innings in the second Test to save the game for South Africa. Success followed in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe and the home series against the West Indies.

However, after the 0-0 draw in the two-game Test series in Bangladesh, South Africa and Hashim Amla were up against their biggest Test. They were to tour India for a 4 game Test series in 2015 and considering the fact that they had drawn the previous two series to that country 1-1, there must have been optimism in the side. After all, they had beaten Sri Lanka at their den in 2014.

What awaited them was something else though and on tracks that turned square from the first day, South Africa were completely destroyed by India in the first Test. They ended up losing the series 3-0 and in all probability, it would have been 4-0 had the second Test in Bengaluru not been washed out due to rain.

That series seemed to have taken the wind out of Amla and after the team lost the first Test of the home series against England, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the captain. He resigned after the drawn 2nd Test. Amla had captained South Africa in 14 Tests, won 4, drawn 6 and lost 4. He recorded a win percentage of only 28.57.

#3 Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis tasted his first humbling experience in the summer of 2017

In December of 2016, Faf du Plessis as South Africa's full-time Test captain after AB de Villiers relinquished the post. However, prior to that, he had captained the team to a series victory against New Zealand at home after De Villiers was unavailable due to an injury.

His first series as the full-time captain started off on a superb note when South Africa thumped Australia 2-1 Down Under and there remained no doubt that he was the right choice for the top job after what had gone on in the previous year.

His calming presence at the helm of affairs and his availability seemed to be perfect for South Africa. Following the victory away at New Zealand, Du Plessis tasted his first humbling experience in the summer of 2017 in England when South Africa crashed to a 3-1 defeat.

Even then, a win percentage of 62.50 in 15 Tests is not too bad. However, a stern test now awaits him in 2018, with the world's number 1 ranked side India visiting South African shores and this series might give a clear indication of where the team and the captain stand.

#2 Shaun Pollock

Shaun Pollock's very first series was an away series in Sri Lanka

South African cricket went through one of its most turbulent periods in history when their talismanic captain Hansie Cronje was banned for match-fixing. There was complete turmoil and that was the sort of situation in which their star bowler and all-rounder Shaun Pollock became the captain, back in 2000.

His very first series was an away series in Sri Lanka, a venue where South Africa were supposed to struggle but the team performed well and went away with a 1-1 draw in the 3 game Test series.

After home series wins against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, South Africa won 2-1 in the West Indies in 2001 and that was Pollock's finest hour as captain as it was their first ever Test series win in the region.

However, following home series win against India in the same year, South Africa were humbled in Australia and lost all Test matches to end up losing the series 3-0. It was Pollock's worst defeat as captain and despite the fact that he won the next three Test series, his captaincy was doomed due to South Africa's exit from the 2003 World Cup at home.

He captained in 26 Tests and won 14 of them while drawing and losing 5 each. He recorded a win percentage of 53.84 but it can be argued that he lost his captaincy not because of his poor performances as a Test captain but due to the debacle of the 2003 World Cup.

#1 Graeme Smith

South Africa became the best Test side in the world under Graeme Smith

Ever since Hansie Cronje's cricket career ended in disgrace back in 2000, South African cricket had been hankering for a captain who could muster the same sort of leadership qualities that had made the former captain such a success.

However, the appointment of Graeme Smith in 2003 proved to be a masterstroke as he ushered in an era of unprecedented success for the team in the Test arena. He is the youngest Test captain in South Africa's history and when Smith was made captain at the age of 22, there was widespread concern that the administrators had made a poor decision.

All that was put to rest when South Africa drew the away series against England 2-2 in the summer and Smith himself scored heavily to cement his authority on the team.

Over the course of his 11-year reign as skipper, South Africa became the best Test side in the world and won games everywhere. He remains the most successful Test match captain in the history of the game, with a superb record of 53 Test wins in 108 games.

No other captain has reached the figure of 50 Test wins. In addition to that, he made South Africa an extremely hard team to beat and he led from the front. No other captain has surpassed his figure of 15 centuries in Tests which the team won and it will take something special for South Africa or for that matter any other team to come up with a captain, who could be as good as Smith.