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5 cricketers who would have been great long-term Test captains

South Africa v India 2nd Test - Day 4
Kallis led South Africa in just two Tests

It is often said that the best player in the team will make a good leader. Modern-day greats like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli, apart from being the best batsman in their respective sides, have also led their team successfully. However, not all cricketers have gotten a chance to lead their respective teams in spite of playing the game for more than a decade.

Here is a look at five cricketers who are considered modern-day greats, but did not get many opportunities to showcase their captaincy skills:

#5 Jacques Kallis

The greatest all-rounder of this generation, Kallis could do no wrong in international cricket. Despite having scored 13,289 runs in Tests at an average of 55.37 to go with 292 Test wickets, the South African all-rounder was never considered a future captain. Kallis dominated world cricket with his all-round skills and played under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith.

In an illustrious career of 166 Tests, Kallis captained his national team on only two occasions i.e. against Australia in 2005-2006 and 2008-2009 when the regular skipper Smith was injured.

Kallis, with his all-round cricketing brain, could have been a sharp leader and achieved great heights captaining his team.

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