5 players who came back strong after relinquishing captaincy

Some players are believed to have a natural penchant for leadership and are considered to be born leaders - they thrive under pressure and love to lead the team by example. South Africa's Graeme Smith stands out in this regard. He had played only 8 Test matches and 22 ODIs when he was handed over the captaincy at a very young age. But he successfully brushed aside all the scepticism engendered by his appointment and went on to become one of the most successful captains for South Africa. On the other hand, there is also the example of established players being unable to cope with the pressure and underperforming when handed over the captaincy. Let us take a look at the top five players who resurrected their careers and came back strong after giving up the captaincy.

#5 Gerry Alexander

From 22 to 60?

Remembered as the last white man to captain the West Indies, Gerry Alexander had a relatively short career and captained in 18 of the 25 Test matches he had played. He had an unimpressive average of 22 as captain scoring only 466 runs in his 24 innings.

After being succeeded by Frank Worrell, he played only one series under him but his average sky-rocketed to 60.58. On that 1960-61 tour of Australia, Alexander scored a half-century in each match compiling 484 runs from the 10 innings he played. The difference of 38 between his batting average as a captain and after giving up the captaincy is the greatest for any player in the history of the game.

#4 Tatenda Taibu

Taibu was appointed as the skipper at a very early age

Young and impressive as a captain, Tatenda Taibu relinquished his captaincy in 2005 after reportedly having received personal threats. His stint as a captain coincided with tumultuous times in Zimbabwean cricket when a number of senior players including Heath Streak opted out following their row with the cricket board.

Taibu took a two-year break from playing for Zimbabwe from 2005 to 2007 during which time he even captained Namibia for one season. His comeback to the Zimbabwean national team in 2007 was very successful and he went on to score a career-best 107 not out against South Africa in an ODI in August 2007. His batting average also improved considerably from 29 to 33.85.

#3 Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Chanderpaul’s ODI average soared after giving up the leadership duties

Shivnarine Chanderpaul had a woeful time as a captain of the West Indies team. He led the team in 14 Tests and 16 ODIs in 2005-06 but had a rather disappointing time with the bat. His batting average in during this time was 47 in Test matches and 30 in ODIs.

But his form with the bat considerably improved after his period of captaincy. His average leapfrogged to 62 in the 35 Tests he played post-captaincy. And in the 85 ODIs he played, he averaged 55.52.

#2 Ian Botham

Lost every single Test that he captained

Ian Botham's period as a captain was one of the most disastrous in his illustrious career. He captained his side for 12 Tests in 1980-81 - nine against the West Indies and three against Australia - and England lost all the matches. He managed only 276 runs averaging a mere 13 during his period.

He quit captaincy mid-way through the 1981 Ashes series just after the first Test match. His batting average soared to 52 after giving up the captaincy and it was due to his heroics, England went on to win the series 3-1. Because of his brilliant contributions, the 1981 Ashes series is now popularly remembered as Botham's Ashes.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin endured a tough time while leading India

Considered to be one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game, Sachin Tendulkar was fairly unimpressive as captain. While his record with the bat during his captaincy stint did not suffer much as he scored 2054 runs at an average of 51.35 from the 25 Tests that he captained, it seemed to take a psychological toll on him as he was unable to play as freely as one was accustomed to seeing.

From 2000 until early 2011, he scored 8656 runs from 101 Tests at an average of 58.09 before a dip in form towards the end of his career brought that average down.

While Tendulkar seemed to start his captaincy career pretty decently, he suffered a huge blow when India suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of the West Indies in the 1997 Test series when India collapsed for an embarrassing total of 81 while chasing a target of 120 on the last day of the last Test of the series.

Ignominiously sacked in 1997, he was re-appointed as captain in 1999. But his second stint was rather unimpressive as well and he stepped down in 2000 recommending Sourav Ganguly to be made his successor. He went on to play for thirteen more years bringing endless laurels to Indian cricket.