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Stats: Misbah ul Haq breaks into the list of top ten run-scorers as Test captains

Misbah has had a prolific career as captain of Pakistan’s Test team

Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq has broken into the list of the top ten run scorers by Test captains. The 42-year old moved past former England skipper Michael Atherton during the ongoing 3rd Test match against West Indies at Sharjah. Interestingly, he became the first Asian captain to join the distinguished list which is dominated by the presence of Australians.

South African leader Graeme Smith heads the table with a whopping 8659 runs from 109 matches. No other captain has led his country in more Tests than the sturdy left-hander from Johannesburg. Allan Border, who has been credited as the reason for Australia’s remarkable turnaround from the dire 80s phase, comes a distant second with over 2000 lesser runs than Smith.

Ricky Ponting rounds the top three with 6542 runs at an average of 51.51 while West Indies giant Clive Lloyd has scored 5233 runs at a similar average. The first four names all belong to some of the game’s greatest ever sides thus highlighting the importance of a captain to lead from the front in Tests. Despite leading a declining Caribbean outfit during the latter phase of his career, Brian Lara holds the best average at 57.83 which shows his stature as a batsman.

However, there is no Indian captain in the top ten with MS Dhoni being the most prolific skipper at 17th position. While his average of 40.63 as captain is slightly higher than his career average of 38.09, Sunil Gavaskar has scored only five fewer runs than the wicket-keeper batsman at an average of 50.72 despite playing 13 lesser Tests. Among other Asian skippers, Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene comes at 13th position with 3665 runs at an impressive average 59.11 from 38 Tests.

Also Read: Misbah-ul-Haq smashes the record for most sixes by a captain in Tests

Aside from being the most prolific run-scorer as an Asian captain and the 10th overall, Misbah has led Pakistan to 24 Test victories (as of 30th October 2016) which is second only to MS Dhoni’s 27 Test among Asian skippers. The veteran’s search for number 25 seems to be in a tricky phase after the Pakistanis ended the opening day of the Sharjah Test at 255/8.

Let us now take a detailed look at the top ten overall leading run-scorers as Test captains.

*Top 10 run-scorers as captains in Tests

Player (Country)MatchesRunsAverageHighest ScoreHundredsFifties
Graeme Smith (SA)109865947.832772536
Allan Border (Aus)93662350.942051536
Ricky Ponting (Aus)77654251.512091935
Clive Lloyd (WI)74523351.30242*1427
Stephen Fleming (NZ)80515640.59274*831
Brian Lara (WI)47468557.83400*1419
Alastair Cook (Eng)54447547.602631123
Greg Chappell (Aus)48420955.382351319
Michael Clarke (Aus)47394651.92329*147
Misbah ul Haq (Pak)49381955.34135832

(*Note: All statistics are accurate as of 30th October 2016 upon the completion of the 2nd Test between Bangladesh and England in Mirpur and after Misbah ul Haq’s dismissal for 53 in the first innings of the 3rd Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Sharjah)

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