5 players who remained in the team only because they were the captain

When the position saved the player from getting sackedAggressive, flamboyant and mercurial are some of the qualities that an ideal captain should possess. But most importantly, a good captain must perform consistently and lead the team by example.The worst instances are when a captain who everyone looks up to struggles and enjoys de facto selection privileges as he is the skipper. Let us look at 5 instances when great players stopped performing but remained in the team only because they were the captain.

#1 Mike Brearley

If there was ever an example of any player who made it to the team consistently simply because of his captaincy credentials, Mike Brearley has to be it. Though Brearley batted in the top seven and often opened the innings for England, he was never considered to be a specialist batsman.

Brearley's batting records were unimpressive to say the least - he was, at best, a mediocre batsman averaging just 22.88 in Tests and 24.28 in ODIs. But as a captain, he belongs to an elite club of cricketers with an enviable record which made him an integral part of the team.

Not selected for the England team because of his academic commitments until he was 34 - he was a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne - Brearley took on the captaincy in 1977.

Out of the 31 Test matches he had captained in, he won 17 and lost only 4. His reputation also rests on the two famous Ashes wins he led the team to in 1977 and 1981.

#2 Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy's appointment as the West Indies captain was met with widespread cynicism and even disbelief as critics suggested that Sammy was simply not good enough for it. The questions refused to go away because of Sammy's poor run of form and people began to ask if Sammy would still make it to the side if he was not the captain.

Considered by many to be a bits and pieces cricketer at best, the whisper from some quarters was that Sammy was assigned the job because no one else was willing to take it up at that time.

Though Sammy played the odd good innings in the limited-overs format, it was widely believed that his selection ahead of the likes of Kemar Roach in Test matches was possible only because he was the skipper.

Sammy did bring some laurels to his nation as the captain like the 2012 World Twenty20 when the West Indies went on to become the champions. But his position as a Test player was always in contention and he chose to retire from Tests the moment he was sacked as the Test captain.

#3 Michael Clarke

Battling a long history of back problems, a series of absences due to injuries and indifferent form had made Clarke a doubtful prospect for the 2015 world cup. His inclusion was criticised by some as unprofessional, but the doubts were momentarily put to rest when he led Australia to World Cup glory.

But his form reached its nadir during the 2015 Ashes series when Clarke looked totally out of sorts and struggled to score runs. It was evident that Clarke was getting selected only as a captain and he himself was brutally honest about it when he said, "I think it's always going to be hard to beat any opposition when they've got 11 and we've only 10.”

It was a disastrous Ashes series for Clarke both as a player and a captain and it forced him to retire from international cricket at the end of it.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly was considered to have become the most successful Indian captain by 2004 but the year also witnessed an indifferent run of form for the Bengal southpaw. By 2005, Ganguly's struggles had become plain embarrassing as he looked un-gamely and failed in one innings after another.

Ganguly's poor run of form became a burning topic of discussion in Indian cricketing circles and it was not difficult to imagine that he remained in the side only as the captain. But his rift with Greg Chappell led to him being subsequently dropped from the side.

Not one to give up easily, Dada, however, fought his way back to the team and scripted a dream comeback in 2006.

#5 Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook shattered quite a few records en route to his majestic 263 in the first Test against Pakistan last month. But not so long ago, there was a time last year when Cook went through a prolonged slump in form and his position in the side was questioned by many.

Having been axed from the ODI squad for the world cup, there were calls to remove Cook from the Test team as well as at one period he went 33 Test innings without scoring a ton and his average had plummeted to 23.67. Too often did his feet refuse to move and he kept edging deliveries outside the off stump.

Former English captain Nasser Hussain was the most critical of him during that period as he said, "His technique is all over the place at the moment. He needs to ask himself: ‘Am I making this England cricket team a better team?’ From the outside it doesn’t appear that he is."