Top 10 Captains with most runs in Tests

Top 10 Captains with most runs in Tests: Being a captain in Test cricket is a big responsibility in itself. You not only have to think of your performance, but also take care of all the other aspects of the game such as bowling and fielding strategies, own batting/bowling, press conferences and the pressure of the crowd to constantly do well. Some players are blessed with the leadership acumen while some players acquired it on the job. But one thing is sure, as captains, these players led from the front and set examples for other batsmen to follow. They also dug up their team from difficult situations, if needed and dominated the other team to send a message. Here we list the Top 10 Captains with most runs in Tests: 10. Steve Waugh – 3714 runs: Steve Waugh. (© Getty Images) Steve Waugh became Australian captain in ODI format in 1997-98 and led Australia to the World Cup crown in 1999. He was made the Test captain after the retirement of Mark Taylor in 1999 and he drew his first Test series against West Indies despite a rampaging Brian Lara challenging the Aussie dominance in 1999. Waugh scored 3714 runs as captain in 57 matches with a highest score of 199 against West Indies. Steve Waugh started a world record sequence of 16 straight Test victories starting with 3-0 clean sweeps of Pakistan and India in 1999-2000 season, which extended till the first Test at Mumbai of the historic 2001 Australia, India 3-Test series. The sequence was broken when India won the 2nd Test at Kolkata, coming from behind following-on thanks to VVS Laxman’s 281 and Rahul Dravid’s 180 and Harbhajan Singh’s 13 wickets. Also Read – Top 10 Most successful Test captains 9. Michael Atherton – 3815 runs: Michael Atherton. (© Adrian Murrell/ALLSPORT via Getty Images) He took over from Graham Gooch in 1993 and captained England in 54 Test matches scoring 3815 runs in those Test matches. He scored 8 centuries as captain and that included a brilliant 185* against South Africa in 1995/96. He scored that 185* in over 10 hours at crease against a rampaging Allan Donald and a young Shaun Pollock in order to save the Test for England on a difficult Johannesburg pitch. He retired in 2001 after playing 115 Tests and scoring 7,728 runs. 8. Michael Clarke – 3946 runs: Michael Clarke. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Australia’s 2015 World Cup winning captain Michael Clarke retired after the end of the 2015 Ashes series, which he lost to England. Clarke scored a total of 8,643 runs in 115 Tests with an average of 38.19. He came to captaincy after Ricky Ponting stepped down from captaincy after the 2011 World Cup. He captained Australia in 47 Tests making 3946 runs and winning 24 of them. His highest score of 329* came against India in 2012 at Sydney Cricket Ground and followed that by making 210 at Adelaide making him the 3rd player to score a triple hundred and a double hundred in the same series. 7. Greg Chappell – 4209 runs: Greg Chappell. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Perhaps the best batsman of his time, Greg Chappell captained Australia in 48 matches and scored 4209 runs. He made his captaincy debut in 1975-76 West Indies series and began by scoring centuries in both innings, a feat only replicated by Virat Kohli in 2014. Chappell’s highest score as captain was 235, which he made against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1980. He retired in 1984 and like his debut, scored a century in his final Test, becoming the first ever batsman to score centuries both on his debut and in his last Test. 6. Brian Lara – 4685 runs: Brian Lara. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Brian Lara captained West Indies many times but never found success as captain. He first captained the West Indies from 1998-1999 which included their 5-0 whitewash at the hands of South Africa. As a captain, he scored 4685 runs in 47 Tests with 14 hundred and the highest score of 400* and an average of 57.83. His highest point as captain came in the 2001 Test series against Sri Lanka where he scored 688 runs in 3 Tests, including a double century and century in the 3rd Test. His biggest achievement as captain was drawing the 1998-99 series with Australia 2-2 and winning the 2004 ICC champions trophy in England. 5. Stephen Fleming – 5156 runs: Stephen Fleming. (© Getty Images) Stephen Fleming became captain of New Zealand in 1997 after Lee Germon at the age of 23 years and 321 days. He captained New Zealand in 80 Tests and scored 5156 runs with a highest score of 274 runs against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2003. He also led New Zealand in 3 World Cups and reached semi-finals in 2 of them. He also scored 8 centuries as captain for New Zealand. 4. Clive Lloyd – 5233 runs: Clive Lloyd. (© Getty Images) Perhaps the most impressive and dominant captain ever in Test history, Clive Lloyd became the West Indies captain in 1974 after Rohan Kanhai and scored 5233 runs with the highest score of 242* against India. He was responsible for the revolutionary 4 men pace attack that destroyed Australia 5-1 in the 1975-76 tour. He was peeved at the way Australian bowling during the previous tour. With Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner as bowlers and himself, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge as the batsmen, Lloyd built a dynasty that remained unbeaten from 1980-1995, a record still unmatched in Test annals. His best captaincy feats included the first blackwash of England, defeating them 5-0 in 1984 in one of his last tours ever. 3. Ricky Ponting – 6542 runs: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting captained Australia from 2004 after the retirement of Steve Waugh till 2010. He played 77 Tests as captain and scored 6542 runs as captain. He scored 19 centuries and highest score of 209 against Pakistan in Hobart in 2010. His biggest achievement as captain was equalling Steve Waugh’s feat of 16 straight Test wins, which was again broken by India in 2008 Perth Test. 2. Allan Border – 6623 runs: Allan Border. (© Getty Images) Allan Border captained the Australian team from 1984-1994. His captaincy period coincided with the retirements of players such as Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh. He also had to deal with the exodus of players to the world series cricket, led by Kerry Packer of Channel 9. But he went on to make a completely new team with players like Steve Waugh, Dean Jones, Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes making their careers under his tutelage. He captained Australia in astonishing 93 (consecutive) matches and scored 6623 runs at average of 50.94 and scored 15 hundred with a best of 205 against New Zealand in 1987 at Adelaide. 1. Graeme Smith – 8659 runs: Graeme Smith. (© Luigi Bennett/AFP/Getty Images) The record for most matches played as captain is held by Graeme Smith, who captained South Africa in 109 Test matches. He scored 8659 runs as captain with highest scored of 277 against England in 2003. He scored 25 centuries as captain, which is also the most. He became captain of South Africa after Shaun Pollock stepped down in 2003 at the age of 22 years and 82 days old. He won 50 Tests as captain and hit 15 centuries in Test wins as captain. Also Read – Top 10 Captains with most runs in International cricket (All Stats Updated Till 13th December, 2015)

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Top 10 Captains with most runs in Tests

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