World Cup 2019: Rating the captains of all the teams

Cricket is a battle of two minds and they are often that of the captains. If it was MS Dhoni’s decision to bat ahead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh in 2011 final that won India the World Cup, it is Eoin Morgan’s captaincy that has transformed England’s limited overs set-up into one of the most dangerous looking sides.

Cricket has two parts to it and that is practice and execution. The practice is what everyone does but the execution is what everyone cannot do. It is the captain who often inspires his troops to execute at the right time and it’s his decision making that allows his team to excel in those high-pressure scenarios. Leading a side is always stressful and to lead a side at a World Cup is by no means an easy task.

World Cup 2019 is now nearly four weeks away and like we established, it’s going to be a battle among 10 captains who will fight it out against each other to reach the semis.

Here we rate the captain of each team ahead of the tournament:

Gulbadin Naib – 4/10

Gulbadin was appointed as the skipper of the Afghanistan ODI team recently in a shock move when their cricket board decided to sack Asghar Afghan from the helm. Asghar had led the team well during his tenure and was one of the main reasons behind the team’s rapid rise in the International circuit. This move drew a lot of criticism and flak, especially from their key players in Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi who were of the opinion that a captaincy change months before the World Cup could affect their performance.

Gulbadin Naib is a decent all-rounder but the pressure of captaincy might affect his show on the field. Though with a dangerous side at his disposal and the privilege of starting as the underdogs, Afghanistan can do well under him. However, his lack of experience and unproven leadership skills find him with a rating of 4/10.