In the long history of Test cricket, there are only five Test cricket captains who have performed the double of 1000 Test runs and 100 Test wickets during their tenure of captaincy. Comparing their performances is a difficult task, and one that would be open to many interpretations and approaches.

We have taken two universally accepted indices of assessment, the batting and bowling averages, during their captaincy period, and used the difference between the two averages as a yardstick to gauge them. Employing this method of appraisal, Imran Khan stands well above the other members of this premier cohort. However, it is only a statistical evaluation of performance and the purists may feel that it does not necessarily reflect quality. We will leave that debate for the readers to dwell on, saying simply that numbers rarely lie.

Imran Khan

When Imran was first selected as an 18 year old, for the Pakistan side on its England tour of 1971, he was a bowling all-rounder with modest ability, delivering mostly in-swingers at a fraction above medium pace. His batting was orthodox, though he was hampered by the aftermaths of a broken forearm that induced frequent stiffness and required regular practice with the bat to keep the arm and his grip supple.

Imran subsequently matured at Oxford and on the county circuit, playing initially for Worcestershire and then Sussex, but it wasn’t until the mid 1970s that he blossomed into a true fast bowler. Changes in his action and delivery stride, along with an almost monastic focus on physical training and fitness, resulted in an ability to generate genuine pace, comparable to the famous Australian Thomson-Lillie combo or the renowned West Indies quintet of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft and Marshall. Along with his express speed, Imran also learnt the art of reverse swing from Sarfaraz Nawaz, mastering it to perfection, to gain an edge over contemporaries who relied on just speed and bounce or conventional swing alone.

Imran was a surprise choice to lead Pakistan on its tour of England in 1982. He already had a reasonably good Test record as an all-rounder, but captaincy raised it to sublime levels. The comparative figures tell their own story.

Total: 88 Tests, 3807 Runs, Avg. 37.69, 362 Wickets Avg. 22.81

As Captain: 48 Tests, 2408 Runs, Avg. 52.34, 187 Wickets Avg. 20.26

Not Captain: 40 Tests, 1399 Runs, Avg. 25.43, 175 Wickets Avg. 25.53

His batting average more than doubled with a significant improvement in his bowling figures as well. None of the other captains in this list can match these huge advances. The responsibility of leadership had clearly brought out the best in Imran Khan’s ability as a player and an all-rounder.

He believed in leading from the front, and demonstrated that in his initial three Test series as captain versus England, by taking 21 wickets at 18.57 runs apiece and scoring 212 runs at an average of 53 runs per innings. In the halcyon year of 1982 Imran took 62 wickets at 13.29 runs each and made 393 runs averaging 49.12 per outing. As a captain he led Pakistan to 14 victories against 8 losses, for a win/loss ratio of 1.75, which is the highest in this exclusive group of gifted leaders. His 187 wickets and 12 fifers as a Test captain are both world records and his bowling average of 20.26 is also the best for a captain with over 50 wickets.

Sir Garfield Sobers

It is rare to see a list that Sir Garfield Sobers does not head. A legend in his own time, he had mythical qualities with both the bat and the ball that are difficult to surpass. Though he started his career as a 17 year old left arm spinner who could also bat, within a few short years, before he had turned 22, he had reached the pinnacle of batting achievements with a record Test score of 365 not out. His batting figures are superlative but tell only part of the story. They fail to convey the class with which he batted. His grace and elegance, exquisite timing, a complete range of strokes all around the wicket made him the most exciting batsman of his time to watch. His offside play was simply breathtaking, he did not merely dominate bowling attacks he decimated and destroyed them, and it was all done with a nonchalant unhurried ease that has rarely been witnessed. This was batting craftsmanship at its very best, la creme de la creme. As a bowler, he could open the attack with his fast medium bowling, bowl orthodox left arm finger spin or wrist spin, including the back of the hand chinaman. A brilliant close-in fielder he had an electrifying presence on the ground. It appeared that there was nothing that he could not do, perhaps the most complete cricketer of all time.

A classical example of his huge God gifted talent was when he led the West Indies for a five Test series in England in 1966. A run tally of 722 runs at an average of 103.14 was backed up by 20 wickets at a cost of 27.25 runs each.

Total: 93 Tests, 8032 Runs, Avg. 57.79, 235 Wickets Avg. 34.00

As Captain: 39 Tests, 3528 Runs, Avg. 58.80, 117 Wickets Avg. 34.00

Not Captain: 54 Tests, 4504 Runs, Avg. 57.61, 118 Wickets Avg. 34.07

It is evident from these figures that captaincy did not affect Sobers’ performance, which remained unchanged even after he assumed the mantle of leadership. The cares of command were almost irrelevant to him and represents, perhaps, the one area where he did not exhibit the greatness that we had naturally come to expect from him. In the 39 Tests under his captaincy West Indies won 9 and lost 10, for a win/loss ratio of 0.9.

Daniel Vettori

An underrated all-rounder, Daniel Vettori, at the age of 18, was the youngest player to make a Test appearance for New Zealand. A medium pacer in his school days he soon turned to conventional finger spin, using variations of flight, length and speed to deceive batsmen into making errors. Never a big turner of the ball, Vettori was a thinking spinner who would discover and probe weaknesses in the batsman’s technique, winning through guile and attrition, securing wickets via seemingly innocuous deliveries by the clever use of the crease, angles and drift.

Naturally ambidextrous, he could both bat and bowl with either hand, and was nicknamed Harry Potter for his tousled hair and spectacles. He was the youngest bowler to reach 100 Test wickets and the first left arm spinner to take 300 Test wickets. He started out as a number 11 batsman but soon groomed his batting abilities to mature into a genuine all-rounder. His first thousand runs were scored at just 17.24 per innings but he averaged 42.54 for his second thousand.

While captaincy brought a marginal improvement in Vettori’s bowling average, it led to a significant advancement in his batting. His average improved from around 25 to almost 40 runs per innings and 4 of his 6 Test centuries were scored as captain. Of his total tally, 2227 runs and four hundreds were scored as a number eight batsman, which are both the highest by a player batting at this position.

Total: 113 Tests, 4531 Runs, Avg. 30.00, 362 Wickets Avg. 34.36

As Captain: 32 Tests, 1917 Runs, Avg. 39.12, 116 Wickets Avg. 33.38

Not Captain: 81 Tests, 2614 Runs, Avg. 25.62, 246 Wickets Avg. 34.82

During Vettori’s leadership New Zealand won 6 matches and lost 16, for a win/loss ratio of just 0.37. This is the lowest in this group but is perhaps also influenced by the relative weakness of the team under him.

Kapil Dev

An outstanding all-rounder, Kapil Dev was one of a quartet of four of the best all-round players to grace the game in the same era, the other three being Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee. A fast medium out-swing bowler, with a classical side-on action, Kapil brought a breath of fresh air to an Indian attack that had traditionally been dominated by spin. As a clean and powerful striker of the ball he could attack with fearless abandon playing both classical strokes and hitting lustily over the in-field.

In his debut series against Pakistan in 1978, he surprised batsmen with his bounce and swing and also displayed his skill with the bat in a quick fire fifty from just 33 balls, including two sixes, in the third Test at Karachi. The following year, 1979, showed Kapil in full flow, as he took 74 wickets at 22.95 apiece and also scored 619 runs at an average of 30.95. In 1983, he inherited the Indian captaincy from Sunil Gavaskar and had another golden year, capturing 75 wickets at 23.18 runs each and scoring 579 runs including a century against the powerful West Indies. His 9 for 83 in the Ahmedabad Test of the same series is a world record for the best bowling in a Test innings by a captain.

Total: 131 Tests, 5248 Runs, Avg. 31.05, 434 Wickets Avg. 29.64

As Captain: 34 Tests, 1364 Runs, Avg. 31.72, 111 Wickets Avg. 26.35

Not Captain: 97 Tests, 3884 Runs, Avg. 30.82, 323 Wickets Avg. 30.78

Leadership had little effect on Kapil’s batting, but his bowling average improved perceptibly. As a captain he led India to 4 wins and 7 losses for a win/loss ratio of 0.57. In 2002, he was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century.

Jason Holder

Jason Holder is the latest entrant to this special club of team leaders, having achieved the captain’s double in July 2020, during the West Indian tour of England. A 6 feet 7 inches tall, fast medium bowler and a reliable, hard hitting, lower middle order batsman, he was elevated to the captaincy in 2015, after playing just eight Tests, becoming West Indies youngest ever Test captain at the age of only 23 years and 343 days. He had already demonstrated his courage and character against England in Antigua in 2015, when an unbeaten maiden Test century of 103 from 149 balls, helped his side to salvage a draw after teetering at 189 for 6, in quest of a 438 run victory target.

As Test captain he produced his best form in the years 2018 and 2019, accumulating 680 runs at an average of 42.50 and taking 53 wickets at the miserly cost of just 14.22 runs apiece. His batting tally was notable for a bludgeoning, match winning knock of 202 not out off just 229 deliveries versus England in Barbados, an innings that boasted of 23 fours and 8 sixes. It was the 3rd highest score ever by a player batting at the number eight position, and his unbeaten partnership of 295 with Shane Dowritch was the 3rd highest 7th wicket stand in Test history. As a bowler his 53 wickets included five wicket hauls in three consecutive innings.

Total: 51 Tests, 2434 Runs, Avg. 32.02, 137 Wickets Avg. 26.66

As Captain: 37 Tests, 1735 Runs, Avg. 31.54, 100 Wickets Avg. 26.76

Not Captain: 14 Tests, 699 Runs, Avg. 33.28, 37 Wickets Avg. 26.40

Under Holder’s captaincy West Indies won 11 Tests and lost 21 for a win/loss ratio of 0.52. It must be said in his favour, though, that he captained one of weakest West Indian squads in recent memory.

Greatness only knocks on certain doors. The rare double of 1000 Test runs and 100 Test wickets as captain has put these five all-rounders in that privileged league.

Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7000 books.

salmanfaridilnh@hotmail.com