Asia Cup 2023: Ranking top 6 Captains

The Asia Cup 2023 tournament saw the Indian team coming out victorious after demolishing Sri Lanka in the final by 10 wickets. It was an absolute annihilation by Rohit Sharma and co. in Colombo, as Sri Lanka got folded for a paltry 50 runs. India chased the total in 6.1 overs to become 8-time champions. The Asia Cup 2023 was a precursor for the ICC World Cup 2023 and the captains of all the teams barring Nepal, had a chance to finetune their units. They did this by trying out different combinations and giving their bench strength some time in the middle as well. Some situations also tested their leadership qualities as well. Keeping this in mind, all six captains have been ranked as per the success of their teams in Asia Cup 2023. Also, their style of leadership, innovation, and pressure-handling abilities were tested in crunch situations. Here are the ranking captains of all 6 teams in Asia Cup 2023: 6. Rohit Paudel (Nepal)

Rohit Paudel. (Photo Source: Johan Rynners-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Rohit Paudel captained the Nepal side for the first time and the team made their debut in the Asia Cup 2023. The 20-year-old had a huge task of competing with his team Nepal against two giants of international cricket in Pakistan and Nepal. And he managed to give Nepal some good moments. Paudel showed some control in the first half of the Group game against Pakistan in Multan. This was until Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed switched gears in the final few overs. Against India, Nepal's batters did well to set a good target. But in a rain-shortened game, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill just went after the Nepal bowlers and Paudel looked clueless.

5. Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan)

Antrim , United Kingdom &#8211; 21 May 2019; Najibullah Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi of Afghanistan after passing their 50 run partnership during the GS Holdings ODI Challenge between Ireland and Afghanistan at Stormont in Belfast. (Photo By Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Hashmatullah Shahidi will continue to captain Afghanistan in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board should’ve reviewed his leadership in the Asia Cup 2023 tournament. When Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto were going town on Afghan bowlers, Shahidi inexplicably held back Rashid Khan. This helped the two batters score centuries and Bangladesh posted 334 runs. Then against Sri Lanka, Afghanistan lost due to not knowing the qualification rules, but as a captain Shahidi should’ve asked the officials about this and informed his batters.

4. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Shakib Al Hasan (Photo Source: Twitter)

Shakib Al Hasan led the Bangladesh side from the front as they became the first team into the Super Fours stage of the Asia Cup 2023. However, everything unravelled as Bangladesh lost back-to-back matches to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Shakib could’ve done things differently in crunch situations given his experience and previous captaincy knowledge. He did help Bangladesh finish on a high with a win over eventual champions India. He led from the front, scoring 80 runs, and then picked one wicket. Later on, he kept his cool when Shubman Gill and Axar Patel were threatening to take the game away.

3. Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Babar Azam (Photo Source: ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Babar Azam was the best captain when it came to Pakistan’s performance in the Group stage. He had an easy win over Nepal and a rained-out game against India. But even during that game, questions were rained on why Babar continued with spin when he had India at 66/4. This allowed India to post 266 runs with Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan adding 138 runs. But disappointingly, his captaincy was just not up to the mark in the Super 4s stage. After gaining a dominating win over Bangladesh in Lahore, Babar looked clueless against India in Colombo. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul put up 356/2 in 50 overs, and Babar failed to stem the run flow or do something innovative. In the must-win game against Sri Lanka, Babar was given 252 runs to defend. And though his bowlers did all the hard work, poor field placements and captaincy from Babar led to Sri Lanka winning by 2 wickets. Babar has had three years or more to learn the ropes of captaincy, but he still lacks that X-factor and mental acumen for leadership.

2. Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka)

Dasun Shanaka and Charitha Asalanaka. (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka reached the final of the Asia Cup 2023 and some credit for this should go to captain Dasun Shanaka as he was without three of his front-line bowlers. While Shanaka didn’t have the best of the time on the personal front, he was a good leader in crunch matches for Sri Lanka. Against India in Super 4s, he maintained pressure on opposition batters throughout after Wellalage had hurt them at the start. And in the must-win game against Pakistan, Shanaka shined as captain of the Sri Lanka, as he restricted the Men in Green from getting a big score, by clever bowling changes. Unfortunately, in the final of the tournament, his decision to bat first backfired due to a rain delay. This gave Indian bowlers enough to rout them for 50 runs and win the tournament.

1. Rohit Sharma (India)

Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)

Rohit Sharma rightfully deserves the top rank in the Asia Cup 2023 captain’s rankings. He led the team from the front with three half-centuries to his name. He scored quickly to give India a chance for big totals. His only failures with the bat came against Pakistan and Bangladesh. As captain, he was innovative, made clever bowling changes, and always looked for wickets. He never waited for things to happen. The biggest example was the final when sensing a quick finish, Rohit continued bowling Mohammed Siraj for 7 overs on a trot and gave his pacers 4 slips at one time. He is now only the third Indian captain to win the Asia Cup more than once after Mohammed Azharuddin and MS Dhoni.

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Asia Cup 2023: Ranking top 6 Captains

Here is how all the six captains of the participating teams in Asia Cup 2023 fared.

4. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

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