DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted a poll on social media site Twitter to identify which captain was the best in their n their latest segment of pace-setters.
The main focus behind the whole poll run by the ICC was that average scrore of players improves as a captain and leader and were the true ‘pacesetters’ in modern-day cricket.
The options given by the ICC are Indian captain Virat Kohli, former South African captain AB de Villiers, current captain of Australia’s women’s team Meg Lanning and former Pakistani captain Imran Khan.
The ICC said that the captaincy for the quartet turned into a blessing for them rather than a curse. It said that the averages of the four improved when they became leaders of their dressing room.
“You decide which of these ‘pacesetters’ were the best among these geniuses!” said the ICC. The former Pakistan captain emerged victorious in a close finish with the current Indian captain.
Captaincy proved a blessing for some extraordinary cricketers ????????
Their averages improved as leaders ????
You decide which of these ‘pacesetters’ were the best among these geniuses! pic.twitter.com/yWEp4WgMun
— ICC (@ICC) January 12, 2021
Virat Kohli received 46 percent of the vote while Imran Khan had 47 percent. AB de Villiers received only seven percent of the vote while Meg Lanning received only one percent.
Virat Kohli’s average shot up to 73.88 from 51.29 in ODIs when he took over the captaincy. On the other hand, South Africa’s Ab de Villiers average was 45.97 when he was not the captain but during the captaincy, the average shot up to 63.94.
Meanwhile, Meg Lanning also saw a spike in her average when she became the captain. The statistics show that when she was not the captain, she was averaging 43.87 but while playing as the skipper her average rose to 60.93.
Imran Khan had a test average of 25.43 with the bat and 25.53 with the bowl in Tests. However, the world cup winning skipper’s Test average was 52.34 and bowling average was 20.26 when he was captaining.
During his captaincy, Imran Khan changed the landscape of Pakistan cricket. As captain, he ensured Pakistan did not lose three out of the four series against the West Indies team in the 80s.
Imran Khan also helped Pakistan win a series in England after 16 years in 1987 and regularly dominated India. However, his crowning achievement will be the 1992 World Cup triumph in which Pakistan were boosted by his ‘Cornered Tigers’ speech. The win made Imran Khan one of the best captains and all-rounders in the history of cricket.
Lastly, Imran Khan, one of Pakistan’s greatest and leader of the 1992 @cricketworldcup triumph ???? pic.twitter.com/LyrZiybD4y
— ICC (@ICC) January 12, 2021
