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5 great cricketers who should have never been made captains

Leading a set of 11 players on a cricket field is certainly not a joke. The role demands leadership skills and immense mental stability to successfully guide the team through various situations.

While some cricketers have emerged unscathed, many couldn't thrive in this role, resulting in a slump in their personal performances. These players not only failed to establish themselves as captains in the long run but also caused the downfall of their respective teams on the whole.

We take a look at five such cricketers who are definitely among their country's all-time greats but could not excel as captains.


#5 Hashim Amla

South Africa v West Indies - 1st Test
Hashim Amla had a short stint as the Proteas captain

Hashim Amla is easily one of the modern-day batting greats. The kingpin of the South African batting lineup was handed the Test captaincy after Graeme Smith's retirement in 2014. As was expected, it was very difficult to replace a captain who had led the team a record 109 times.

Amla though enjoyed a successful initial period, helping the Proteas beat Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and West Indies. He then faced the toughest phase of his captaincy stint.

On South Africa's tour of India, his side was handed a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the hosts, following which they succumbed to England as well. It was during this tour that Amla stepped down as the captain after receiving a lot of flak for his leadership skills.

He led the team in 14 matches out of which the team won 4 and lost 4, with an overall win percentage of 28.6%.

Amla scored 894 runs in his 14 games as a captain. These runs came at a healthy average of 49.66, including 3 centuries.

As expected, Amla once again started anchoring the team's batting responsibilities after stepping down as the captain. In the remaining 95 matches of his career, the South African scored 7684 runs thus far at an average close to 50.

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