Alexander the Great said about leadership, “An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep”. This is so real in the cricket profession. Great leaders make great teams and Pakistan has the best cricket team captains ever.
Captains through their ideas, brainpower, and skills lead their teams to success. A talented leader utilizes his all resources and tries to do his best.
No, doubt leadership is a so tough job, as a captain has to think not only about his performance, but he also has to supervise the game of his team members. Captains bring the load of expectancies of the cricket lovers from their side.
Pakistan cricket team is considered a strong cricket team as it has given a lot of gems to the cricket world in form of its talented players and leaders. Since the start of cricket in Pakistan, many players had left remarkable prints on the cricket grounds.
In this article, we will share some of the best captains of Pakistan cricket teams ever who are regarded as brilliant and accomplished captains.
Top 5 Pakistan’s Best Cricket Team Captains
5- Waqar Younas
Captaincy Period: ODI1993/1994 to 2002/2003
Test matches 1993/1994 to 2003/2004
Captaincy Matches and Performance: Total Test Matches: 17, Total ODI: 62
Test Matches Drawn: 0, Won: 10, Loss: 7
ODI Matches Drawn: 2, Won: 37, Loss: 23
Waqar Younas is among the best fast bowlers in Pakistan cricket. He is among the best captain ever in the history of cricket as he had taken 416 wickets in One Day International and 373 wickets in his test matches.
He made the record of being the 4rth youngest captain of the test matches in cricket history. He has also ranked the first position in Pakistan to perform as youngest captain.
Cricket Career
He started his cricket career in 1987. He began his International cricket career in the year 1989 in Pakistan versus India cricket match. In the drawn cricket match, he obtained 4 wickets. In that match, he successfully took the wickets of Kapil Dev and Tendulkar.
He grabbed the eyes of cricket experts instantly due to his fast speed. The media used to call him Burewala Express and Wiki. In the ODI match of Pakistan versus New Zealand, he obtained a hat-trick in the year 1994.
He became a high potential attacker due to his regular bowling actions. Younas had a unique style of bowling as he used to deliver the ball in full length.
Captaincy
From the year 1993 to 2003 he captained the Pakistan team. Waqar Younas performed his captaincy in 62 One Day International and 17 test matches. Under his leadership, Pakistan played and won 37, lost 23, and tied 2 matches in ODI.
As a captain, Younas made a record of best bowling 7/36 in One Day International. He also successfully took 7 wicket haul in an innings in One Day International matches.
Retirement
He revealed his retirement in the year 2004. He finished his profession while ranking as 2nd wicket-taker of highest 373 wickets.
4- Inzamam-ul-Haq
Captaincy Period: ODI 2002/2003 to 2007
Test matches 2000/2001 to 2006/2007
T20 matches 2006-2006
Captaincy Matches and Performance: Total Test Matches: 31, Total ODI: 87, Total T20: 1
Test Matches Drawn: 9, Won: 11, Loss: 11
ODI Matches Drawn: 3, Won: 51, Loss: 33
T20 Matches Drawn: 0 , Won: 1 , Loss: 0
Inzamam-ul-Haq is a cricket trainer and former cricket player. He is ranked 3rd in the highest runs in the Test series and he also scored the highest runs in ODI. He is the only batter of Pakistan who has the honor of scoring 20,000 runs in international cricket.
He proved himself a plentiful and productive batsman. He played 378 ODI and 120 test matches for Pakistan.
Cricket Career
He began his First-class cricket in 1985 for Multan Club. He stepped in the One Day International series in the year 1991 in the battle with West Indies. He made a nice entry in ODI as he scored 20 and 60 runs in 2 matches.
In the year 2007, he started to perform in English country cricket, but Inzi remained ineffective in providing fruitful results.
Captaincy
He captained the Pakistan team from the period of 2003 to 2007. Under his stewardship, on cricket grounds, Pakistan performed in 30 test matches. Out of which 11 won, 9 draw, and 10 matches were lost.
His qualities had seen to emerge more in pressure. Also, as a captain, he acquired 3rd position to have the highest average in One Day International.
Inzamam-ul-Haq played his perfect role to keep his team more combative in hard cricket dares. He is among Pakistan’s cricket captains ever.
Retirement
Inzamam-ul-Haq retired from One Day International cricket matches in the year 2007 and he also revealed to leave test matches series as well.
3- Misbah-ul-Haq
Captaincy Period: ODI 2008-2015
Test matches 2011/2012 to 2017
T20 matches 2011 to 2012
Captaincy Matches and Performance: Total Test Matches: 56, Total ODI: 87, Total T20: 8
Test Matches Drawn: 11, Won 26: Loss: 19
ODI Matches Drawn: 0, Won: 45, Loss: 16
T20 Matches Drawn: 0, Won: 6, Loss: 2
Cricket Career
Ul-Haq played total of 162 matches from 2002 to 2015. He made the fastest half-century in test cricket. He played ICC World Cup Twenty20 in 2001.
He scored the highest runs in T20 World Cup 2007. He achieved number 1 position in ICC batter ranking. He had also entitled as Pakistan’s first cricketer who scored 50 in T20 international.
Captaincy
Misbah-ul-Haq performed the role of vice-captain in One Day International. In the year 2010, he had selected for the test series captaincy for the UAE tour. Later, he was selected as an alternative captain in place of Shahid Afridi.
He captained the team in the 8th Twenty20 International series. Pakistani team won 6 while lost 2 matches. In 2012 he did not perform well as the team had been defeated by the England team and cricketers criticized his poor role.
Then, he left the T20 captaincy. In 2013 for the cricket battle in Champions Trophy and then in home series against the team of South Africa Pakistan’s weak performance put a question mark on the Misbah-ul-Haq leadership. But PCB declared to maintain its leadership until the World Cup 2015
In 2016 Pakistan for the first-time ranked number 1 in test cricket under his stewardship. He is considered a successful captain of the test series. He played 56 test matches, won 26, and lose 19 with 11 drawn matches.
From the period 2008 to 2015 he captained ODI matches. He left his captaincy in 2015. He is considered among Pakistan’s best captains ever in cricket with 26 victories.
Retirement
He announced his retirement from ODI and Twenty20 in the year 2015. Later, in 2016 he decided to delay his retirement in test series. He is the best cricket captain ever in Pakistan history.
For the last time, he played against the team of West Indies in 2017 in which Pakistan picked off the victory.
2- Wasim Akram
Captaincy Period: ODI: 1992/1993 to 1999/2000
Test matches: 1992/1993 to 1999/2000
Captaincy Matches and Performance: Total Test Matches: 25, Total ODI: 109
Test Matches Drawn: 5, Won: 12, Loss: 8
ODI Matches Drawn: 2, Won: 66, Loss: 41
Cricket Career
He started his cricket career in Pakistan vs New Zealand test match series in 1985. He played his last match in the year 2002. He is called “Sultan of Swings”. He had expertise in techniques of reverse swings and yorker.
Wasim led the Pakistani team to the World Cup 1999 final. He also squared a cricket test series and conquer the Asian Test tournament. He started to play as a domestic cricketer in 1988.
In the year 1985 he stepped into the test series. In his test career, he had taken the highest wickets of 414 and was known as the highest wicket-taker. He achieved 17 Man of the Match titles.
He had taken 326 wickets in 199 One Day International matches. He was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2019 for his masterpiece performance in the cricket world.
Captaincy
Pakistan achieved un-believable success during Akram’s captaincy. He performed in 25 tests and 109 test matches. One of the ever best in the cricket world.
Retirement
He declared his retirement from test matches in 2002. Then, he announced to quit One Day International in 2003.
1- Imran Khan
Captaincy Period: ODI:1982 to 1991/1992
Test matches: 1982 to 1991/1992
Captaincy Matches and Performance: Total Test Matches: 48, Total ODI: 139
Test Matches Drawn: 26, Won: 14, Loss: 8
ODI Matches Drawn: 1, Won: 75, Loss: 59
Cricket Career
He emerged as the first captain who played as a bowler and all-rounder. In 1987 Khan took his team to glory in the first test series. Pakistan under his stewardship Pakistan won the test matches series in 1988.
Captaincy
He made a record of most wickets taking captains. He is also known as the captain holding the best bowling average and best bowling strike rate.
Retirement
He announced his retirement in the year 1992 after his last match of One Day International. He retired with 126 innings, 88 matches of test cricket. He scored the runs of 3807 with 18 half-centuries and 6 full centuries.
Pakistani cricket history is full of gems who through their leadership have led the country brilliantly to peaks of success and fame. Their fans still love and remember them. These captains will remain in the list of best Pakistan captains ever.
