New Delhi. This cricketer is very special as a captain. There is a record in his name for the team getting the most wins in Tests and the team has also suffered the most defeats under his captaincy. Not only this, he is the only cricketer in the world to captain more than 100 tests. Apart from being a successful captain, South Africa’s Graeme Smith was also counted among the best batsmen in the world. In Test cricket, he scored 9265 runs in 117 Tests at an average of 48.25, which included 27 centuries. Five double centuries are recorded in his name.
Graeme Smith of South Africa captained in 109 tests, which included 108 tests as the captain of South Africa and one test as the captain of the ICC team. Under Smith’s captaincy, the South African team won 53 tests. 29 defeats are also recorded in his name as captain, which also includes the defeat at the hands of Australia as the captain of ICC XI in October 2005. 27 test draws have ended.
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The only captain to win 50+ tests
Smith is the only captain who has led the team to victory in more than 50 tests under his leadership. In this matter, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh are also behind him. Ponting captained Australia in 77 Tests and led Australia to 48 wins while Steve Waugh led Australia to 41 wins in 57 Tests. India’s Virat Kohli is at fourth place in this matter, who captained India in 68 Tests and led the team to victory in 40.
The team lost 29 tests under Smith’s captaincy.
If Graeme Smith is the most successful captain, then the team also suffered the most defeats under his captaincy. Under his captaincy, the team has faced defeat in 29 tests (South Africa in 28 and ICC XI captain in one). In this case, New Zealand’s captain Stephen Fleming is in second place and England’s Joe Root and West Indies’ Brian Lara are in third place. Under the captaincy of Fleming, the Kiwi team had to face defeat in 27 tests and under the captaincy of Root and Lara, their team had to face defeat in 26-26 tests.
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India lost 19 tests under Dhoni’s captaincy.
Talking about Indian captains, India has suffered maximum defeats in 19 tests under the captaincy of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. At the second place is MS Dhoni, under whose captaincy India lost 18 tests. MS captained the team in 60 tests, out of which India won 27 and lost 18 while 15 were drawn. At number three is Virat Kohli, under whose captaincy India won 40 tests, lost 17 tests while 11 tests ended in draws.
Smith was also captain in 150 ODIs and 27 T20Is.
Apart from captaining in 109 Tests, Smith led Africa XI/South Africa in 150 ODIs, in which the team won 92 matches, lost 51, one match was tied while in six the win-loss could not be decided. He captained the South African team in 27 T20Is, out of which the team lost 18 and lost 9. In 197 ODIs, Smith scored 6989 runs at an average of 37.98 and strike rate of 80.81, which included 10 centuries and 47 half-centuries. He also has 982 runs (5 half-centuries) in his name in 33 T20Is at an average of 31.67 and strike rate of 127.53.
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Zaheer Khan’s special victim
Despite being an excellent batsman, Graeme Smith was never comfortable facing India’s left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan. He became Zaheer’s victim 14 times in international cricket. Praising Zaheer’s bowling skills, Smith once said, ‘Zaheer was the most skilled bowler I have faced in my entire career. He swung the ball and changed the pace a lot. He also did reverse swing. He proved to be a very difficult bowler. ,
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Tags: Cricket, Graeme Smith, Number Game, South Africa Cricket
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 26, 2024, 07:55 IST