Cricket in 2018: Top 5 best captains of the year

3. Kane Williamson – New Zealand

Kane Williamson had been the obvious choice for the captaincy role after Brendon McCullum’s retirement in 2016. A cool-headed player, New Zealand, under Williamson haven’t become giants but have done well enough to stay afloat with their competitors.

The Black Caps have played a minimum number of matches in the current year but had a very good outing in the UAE against Pakistan. The year 2018 got underway with the hosts scoring a resounding 5-0 series victory against Pakistan. The Kiwis, however, ended up losing the T20I series 2-1 and the Trans-Tasman tri-series, involving Australia and England.

The English team travelled to the Trans-Tasman country to play a five-match One-day series and a two-match Test series. The tourists took the limited-overs series while the hosts won the Test series.

In October, Williamson’s men travelled to the UAE for a bilateral series. After the tourists were clean swept in the T20I series and a hard-fought ODI series ending in a draw, the Test series was acclaimed as one of the best series to have been played in the recent times.

Led by Williamson, New Zealand achieved their first away Test series victory against Pakistan since 1969. With the series in the third Test tied, the skipper led from the front and brought the best out of him in both the innings. A poised half-century followed by a well-constructed century in the 2nd innings led New Zealand to a historic series win. Williamson emerged as the highest run-scorer in the Test series, with 386 runs.

Along with being one of the best batsman of this generation, Williamson is also one of the astute captains. He has been highly inspirational but still has a long way to go as a captain but one thing that stands out in his leadership skill is his ability to be street-smart.