Six Legendary Players Who Never Captained Their Countries In Any Matches And Any Format

Cricket is a game where captaincy is the most important thing. A good captain is a proactive leader who can take quick and smart decisions when the match is going. A captain also needs the help of his bowlers, batters, and fielders to win the game in any situation.

But many times, the captain is not a brilliant performer. Nevertheless, he is there to guide the teams in good and bad situations. The individual performers are important in the game, and they lift the morale of the team. Still, they are not named as the captains of their respective sides.

In today’s article, we shall name the top eight players who were brilliant performers for their teams. But still, they couldn’t be the captain despite doing well for the team, and many times they were even overshadowed by their teammates, and on many occasions, they were surrounded by many controversies.

Muttiah Muralitharan – The legendary spin bowler from Sri Lanka is the highest wicket-taker in the world of cricket. Muralidharan had held the Sri Lankan with both hands when they needed him the most. But still, he wasn’t their captain in any of the formats.

Murali played under his juniors like Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The prolific bowler had picked up 800 Test wickets and 534 ODI wickets. He even guided Sri Lanka to many victories single-handedly. But still, he didn’t captain the Lankan team even for one match.   

Glenn McGrath – Australia had many great captains like Allan Border, Ricky Pointing, Steve Waugh, Ian Chappel, etc. That might be the reason why Glenn McGrath didn’t captain the Aussie side during his playing days. Glenn was a fearsome and prominent fast bowler in world cricket.

McGrath has 563 wickets to his name, which the second-highest in the International Cricket arena. McGrath was included in the Hall of fame by ICC and Cricket Australia.  He was the greatest bowler in cricketing history, and he played all the formats for Australia. Still, he didn’t captain the Aussie team, which was at a peak for most years.

Dale Steyn – The Steyn Gun from The Proteas Country was a bowler who used to bowl his heart out for the country. The opposition batsmen used to fear facing Dale Steyn when he was at his peak. He had a shire pace and accuracy which had troubled the mighty batsmen from all over the world. Steyn was the fifth-highest wicket-taker for South Africa. 

He was awarded ICC Test Cricketer of the year in 2008. He was in the Test Team of the ICC for eight years, and he was also named in the ICC test Team for a decade from 2011 to 2020. Steyn also won the Wisden Cricketer Award in 2014. Dale had achieved so much. But still, he didn’t captain the South African side.

James Anderson – Jimmy Anderson is still an active cricketer who plays test cricket only. His swing bowling is artistry which not many batters have figured out. Sachin Tendulkar, the god of cricket, finds Jimmy as the toughest bowler to face.

Anderson is the only pace bowler with the most wickets in the Test history. Jimmy has picked up 600 wickets in the traditional format, and he is also the highest ODI wicket-taker for England. Anderson has been at the top chart in International cricket. But still, he hasn’t captained England.

Martin Guptill – The Kiwi opening batsman is the first player from New Zealand to score a double century in ODIs. He achieved that feat in the 2015 world cup, and he still holds the record of the highest individual score in the ICC 50 over event.

Guptill has been a dangerous opener in all three formats. But the presence of Ross Taylor, Baz, and Williamson didn’t allow him to be the captain of his country.

Yuvraj Singh – The Indian spin bowling all-rounder was the best middle-order batsman for India, and he used to play in the team as a spin-bowling all-rounder. He was instrumental in India’s two tile wins. Yuvi had scored and picked up wickets regularly during the World T20 in 2007 and the ICC World Cup of 2011.

But after that, he was detected with cancer, and he was out of the game for many years. He still made a comeback into international cricket, and he played for India again. But he didn’t have that impactful career after that disease, so he had to retire from international cricket and the Indian Premier League. Yuvi played under Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni. But he didn’t get a single chance of captaining the side even for a single match and series of all three formats.