5 players who came back strong after relinquishing captaincy

Some players are believed to have a natural penchant for leadership and are considered to be born leaders - they thrive under pressure and love to lead the team by example. South Africa's Graeme Smith stands out in this regard. He had played only 8 Test matches and 22 ODIs when he was handed over the captaincy at a very young age. But he successfully brushed aside all the scepticism engendered by his appointment and went on to become one of the most successful captains for South Africa.  On the other hand, there is also the example of established players being unable to cope with the pressure and underperforming when handed over the captaincy. Let us take a look at the top five players who resurrected their careers and came back strong after giving up the captaincy. 

#5 Gerry Alexander

From 22 to 60?

Remembered as the last white man to captain the West Indies, Gerry Alexander had a relatively short career and captained in 18 of the 25 Test matches he had played. He had an unimpressive average of 22 as captain scoring only 466 runs in his 24 innings.

After being succeeded by Frank Worrell, he played only one series under him but his average sky-rocketed to 60.58. On that 1960-61 tour of Australia, Alexander scored a half-century in each match compiling 484 runs from the 10 innings he played. The difference of 38 between his batting average as a captain and after giving up the captaincy is the greatest for any player in the history of the game.