A successful team is defined by the procedure in which the captain leads the team from the front. The contribution and responsibility of a captain for a successful team are infinite. Leading a team from the front is hard. Decisions of the captain determine the fate of the team. The situation can become really difficult for the captains quite a few times but some brilliant captains have managed to prove themselves in front of everyone and have brought victories for their respective teams and nation. Here let's take a look at the Cricket Facts: Teams with Most ODI captains since 2017.

#6 INDIA

The 4 captains: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli

India is definitely one of the best cricket teams in all three formats of the game. The current captain of the Indian cricket team in all three formats is Virat Kohli. Since 2017 the Indian team has played under 4 different captains. It started off with Virat Kohli when he took the responsibility and became the new captain of the team in January 2017. In the absence of Kohli, the vice-captain of the team Rohit Sharma has captained the team many times. Under his captaincy, India has won 8 out of the 3 ODI matches. The Men in Blue also succeeded to win the Asia Cup in 2018 under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. Recently in the Sri Lanka tour, Shikhar Dhawan was the captain of the second string. Shikhar Dhawan led the Men in Blu and won the ODI series 2-1.

Read also: ENG vs IND Test series: Most Hundreds till now

#5 WEST INDIES

The 4 captains: Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell

The West Indies cricket team has played under 4 captains since 2017. It is very rare to see the down turning of a team because of disputes and disagreements with the board. West Indies is one such team but the good news is that everything is resuming back like before. The whole team is working hard to get better like before and good performances can be expected once again from the team. Among all the captains of the West Indies cricket team, Jason Holder is the youngest one. Kieron Pollard is the present skipper of the team. Pollard was given the responsibility of the captain of the team in September 2019. He is considered an attacking captain, especially in the T20 format. He has scored 3 centuries and 12 half-centuries in ODI format with an average of 25.33 and a strike rate of 94.84.

#4 ZIMBABWE

The 6 captains: Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Graeme Cremer, Peter Moor, Chamu Chibhabha, and Sean Williams

The Zimbabwe cricket team has played under 6 different captains in ODI matches since 2017. The team has not been performing well and their whole performance is deteriorating recently. As the West Indies team, the board of the Zimbabwe cricket team is a major reason for such a worsening star of the team. The present ODI keeper of the Zimbabwe team is Hamilton Masakadza. He started captaining the team in February 2019. The captain has played in 209 ODI matches and has scored 5 centuries and 34 half-centuries with an average of 27.74 and a strike rate of 73.21.

#3 SOUTH AFRICA

The 6 captains: Temba Bavuma, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy

The performances of the South Africa ODI cricket team have been quite good since 2017 yet there has been a change in the captaincy quite a few times. Since 2017 the ODI team has played under 6 different captains. The Proteas has witnessed some successful captains in the past. In 2017 AB de Villiers was the captain of the team and he captained in 16 ODI matches. Then his responsibility shifted to Faf du Plessis and then passed onto Aiden Markram, JP Duminy, and Quinton de Kock. Very recently Temba Bavuma became the captain of the South Africa ODI Cricket team. The present skipper has played in only 12 ODI matches and has successfully smashed 1 century and 2 half-centuries.

#2 PAKISTAN

The 6 captains: Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim

Since 2017 Pakistan has managed to win only 33 matches out of 70 ODI matches. In 2017 Pakistan defeated India and won the Champions Trophy as well. Even after having a great year in 2017 the team and the management decided to change the captains 6 times within a span of 4 years. In 2019, Shoaib Malik had to become the captain of the team once again because of some racist comments made by Sarfaraz and hence he was banned. After that, Shoaib injured himself, and Wasim was given the responsibility of the captain.

Babar Azam is the present skipper of the Pakistan ODI Cricket team. In November 2020 he became the captain of the team. He is appreciated and well known for his performances on the field as a great batsman. Recently he scored the highest score as a Pakistani batsman in ODI matches against England. Also, he became the fastest Pakistani cricketer to reach the milestone of 14 centuries in ODI matches within just 81 innings. He has also scored 17 half-centuries in his 81 innings and made a total score of 3985 runs.

#1 Sri Lanka

The 10 captains: Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedra, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka

The cricket team that played under the captaincy of the most number of captains is Sri Lanka. Since 2017, the ODI team has played under 10 different captains. The current situation of the Sri Lankan ODI team is not that impressive as they have managed to win only 23 ODI matches out of 82 since 2017. The difference in performances of the previous and present Sri Lankan team is wide apart. Dimuth Karunaratne is the Sri Lankan ODI team. He became the captain of the team on 7th October 2017. He is the second opener of Sri Lanka who scored 3 test centuries in a calendar year.

Rahul Dravid was appointed as head coach of the Indian cricket team in November 2021 and his contract was till the 2023 ODI World Cup.

India became the Number 1 in both Tests and ODIs under combination of coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma.

Dravid masterminded India's Test series win against Australia at home earlier this year. India gun opener Shubman Gill became the player that he is under the guidance of Dravid.

Dravid helped Virat Kohli rediscover his magical batting form and the India run machine ended the 2023 ODI World Cup as the highest run-getter.

With meticulous planning ahead of the ODI World Cup, Dravid forged a near-perfect plan of attacking cricket with Rohit Sharma.

During Dravid tenure, India also won the home Test series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and the away series in Bangladesh and West Indies

Under the able guidance of Dravid, India won the home T20I series against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka and also won the Asia Cup.

With Rahul Dravid as coach, India lost in the South Africa test series away from home after taking a 1-0 lead.

T20 World Cup

Under Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, India reached the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup, but lost to England in Adelaide

World Test Championship final

India lost the deciding fifth Test in England and also lost the World Test Championship final to Australia.

Rahul Dravid's tenure as coach ended with the loss to Australia in the ODI World Cup final.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam hit his 30th ODI half-century in the World Cup match against Afghanistan.

Babar played a 92-ball 74-run knock against Afghanistan in World Cup encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

During the match, Babar became the 12th Pakistan batter to score 5,500-plus runs in ODI cricket.

Babar Azam joined Javed Miandad as only the second Pakistani batter to score 1000 runs in ICC World Cups. Babar Azam scored 1058 runs in 26 matches in ICC events at an average of 44.08.

Javed Miandad is Pakistan's all-time leading run-scorer in the ICC World Cups as he scored 1083 runs in 33 matches at an average of 43.32

Babar Azam need only 26 runs to go past Javed Miandad and set a new record for Pakistan cricket team in ICC World Cups.

Fans never forget anything unusual happening in a match. And unusual in this context stands for unbreakable records. Whenever boundaries are discussed the two names that always come to mind are Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh. The reason is simple; these batsmen are the only ones to smash six sixes in an over of international cricket. Similarly, the world has witnessed 5 batsmen who scored six fours in an over in international cricket. Let's take a look at all these 5 eminent cricketers and the cricket facts behind them.

Cricket facts: Five batsmen who have hit six fours in an over

1. Sandeep Patil

For the first time in the history of cricket, an Indian cricketer came forward and played antagonistically in the test series between India and England in 1982. The cricketer is none other than Sandeep Patil; the first cricketer to hit six fours in an over. 1982 was a time when Indian batsmen were considered to play safely and defensively. But the notion was broken by Sandeep Patil when he smashed six fours in an over of Bob Will. Although he did not hit six fours consecutively as the fourth ball was a dot ball. But the previous ball was a no-ball and he utilized the opportunity properly to smash a boundary.

Read also: 5 debutants to take a hat-trick in cricket

2. Chris Gayle

The record-breaker and aggressive batsman of the West Indies cricket team, Chris Gayle is the second cricketer on this list. He hardly spares the opponent bowlers and leaves no opportunity to smash boundaries here and there. Therefore it is mandatory to have the legend batsman on this list. In the 2004 test series against England, he smashed six fours in an over at The Oval. With that, he also made the record of scoring a six in the first ball of a test match.

3. Ramnaresh Sarwan

The next West Indies cricketer to struck six fours in an over is Ramnaresh Sarwan. Cricket facts state that the middle-order batsman achieved this feat in the third match of the test series at Basseterre. He scored a total of 116 runs in the third test match. Interestingly, the over he hit six fours was a 7-ball over by Munaf Patel. The last ball was a no-ball from Patel. Batting first, the Caribbean players batted exceptionally well but the match ended in a draw.

4. Sanath Jayasuriya

There was a time when the Sri Lankan cricket team had the ability to rule the cricket world. Many eminent cricketers were a part of the team that glorified the team in the world and brought victories. He is one of the best batsmen of his time. His striking and batting in attacking method helped Sri Lanka to win many matches at many times. In the first test match of the 3-match series between Sri Lanka and England in 2007, Jayasuriya scored six fours in James Anderson's over. He smashed Anderson absolutely in the 19th over and portrayed a few excellent boundaries.

Read also: Most international wickets by pacers since 2018

5. Tillakaratne Dilshan

The 2015 World Cup is definitely one of the most significant and unforgettable series of Dilshan's cricket career. In a match against Australia, Dilshan played his memorable over of six fours. In the 6th over by Michelle Johnson, Dilshan created a storm on the field of Sydney and scored consecutive six fours. He pulled off a 62-run knock in this match. Another special reason for this Word Cup is that he scored a total of 395 runs in 7 matches including two centuries.

Playing for their own country has always been a dream for every budding cricketer. As test cricket has been the oldest format, many cricket record gets made every day. There are 10 test playing nation among every other country. Many great cricketers have been produced in that format, many promising ones are still fighting for their spot.

Now almost thousands of cricketers have made their debut in the history of its 144 years. The cricket record of scoring test century at test debut is done 111 times by 109 players ( Lawrence Rowe and Yasir Hameed have done this two times in their debut test). Now only 7 players have done the record of scoring a double century on their Test debut. Hence, let us go through the players who have converted their first century in test cricket into a double century on their very first test match.

Top 7 debut in test history

#1 Reginald Foster

Aussie batsman Reginald Foster commonly known as Tip Foster has become the first one to score a double century on his test debut. Foster did this cricket record in a test match between England and Australia which started on 13th December to 17th December 1903. In that test match, batting first England put 285 onboard thanks to a century from English captain Monty Noble(133).

Australia scored 577 in their first innings with the help of 287 with the aid of 37 boundaries from Tip Foster and 102 from Len Braund. In the next innings, with Victor Trumper scoring 185, the English team boarded 485 keeping a target of 194 for the opposition. It would've been more unless the tight bowling of Wilfred Rhodes(5-94).

The opposition team easily scored 194 as Tom Hayward(91) and George Hirst(60) was the pillar of the chase.
Tip Foster was adjudged man of the match for this blistering performance.

Read Also: 8 unknown Test Cricket Rules and their explanations

#2 Lawrence Rowe

Caribbean batsman Lawrence Rowe scored a century in both the innings of his debut Test. Against New Zealand in the first test of the 1972 series. Batting first Westindies put 508 on the scoreboard with the expense of 4 wickets as Hedley Howarth scalped four wickets. Batting at no. 3, Rowe scored 214(19 fours and a six) and opener Roy Frederick scored 163 runs. In reply, Kiwis lost all their wickets with 386. That would've not been possible unless Kiwi great Glenn Turner scored an impressive double century(223).

Now, on the second Caribbean innings, Rowe again scored exactly a hundred to give a target of 340 as Westindies declared their innings on 218/3. Now Newzeland scored 236 runs expanding 6 wickets. A notable performance was done by Mark Burgess(101) and a match-saving 36 from wicketkeeper Ken Wadsworth(36). David Holford took 4 wickets but it was not sufficient to win the test
Lawrence Rowe was the man of the match for a total of 314 runs in his debut match.

#3 Brendon Kuruppu

Srilankan batsman Brendon Kuruppu is 3rd in this list with a double century in his debut test way back after 15 years after Lawrence Rowe.
In a test match against Newzeland starting from 16th April 1987 Kuruppu scored a double century comprising a bowling attack of Sir Richard Hadlee, Ewen Chatfield. In a match that has never been resulted in a win or loss, Brendon Kuruppu scored 201 runs in the first innings. He and former match referee Ranjan Madugalle(60) helped Srilanka to score 397 runs.

The rest of the Srilankan batting was vulnerable to Sir Richard Hadlee(4-102), Ewen Chatfield(2-104). In reply, Newzeland took just a lead of 9 runs scoring 406 with the help of 151 runs by Richard Hadlee and 120 runs from Jeff Crowe.
As the second innings have not been started, the match ended as a draw.

Read Also: WTC stats: Most Runs in World Test Championship

#4 Matthew Sinclair

After being the sufferer of two double century from debutant for Newzeland now it's time for a kiwi batsman to be included in this cricket record as Matthew Sinclair scored 214 runs in his debut test facing 447 balls with the aid of 22 boundaries as Kiwis posted 518 runs losing 9 wickets against Windies at Basin Reserve, Wellington. Nathan Astle(93), skipper Stephen Fleming(67) helped him on this journey.
In reply, Westindies were bowled out for 179 as Chris Cairns took a fifer(5-44) and Daniel Vettori took 2-69. Only Adrian Griffith(67) and Brian Lara(67) stood tall.
Following on, Westindies can score only 213 runs thanks to Dion nash(4-38), Chris Cairns(2-25). Brian Lara(75) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul(70) only scored 50+ score but others failed miserably.
New Zealand won by 105 runs.

Read Also: Most successful captains in Test cricket

#5 Jacques Rudolph

Protea batsman Jacques Rudolph scored his maiden double century in his debut Test against a weak bowling lineup of Bangladesh where only Mashrafe Mortaza was a reputed bowler in 2003 at MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong.
Batting first Bangladesh looked vulnerable in front of chinaman Paul Adams as he took 5 wickets expanding 37 runs. Only Habibul Bashar completed his half-century(60). They were bundled out for 173 runs.

In reply, the South African team lost both openers Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith within 41 runs. But then Dipennar and Jacques Rudolph started creating history as they registered a 429 run partnership before the Protea camp declared at 470/2. This partnership was the highest in terms of runs in South African cricket history.
After having a havoc lead of 299 runs, Bangladesh batting gave a comparatively tough fight in the second innings but could only manage 237 runs and they lost this match by 62 runs.

Read Also: 10 most underrated test cricketers of all time

#6 Kyle Mayers

This time two things were common from the previous one. Firstly, Bangladesh again became the victim of this cricket record and secondly, this occurred on the very same ground where Rudolph scored his double century.

Batting first Bangladesh scored 459 runs thanks to a century from Mehidy Hasan Miraz(103), half-centuries from Shadman Islam (54), Shakib-Al-Hasan(68). They got a respectable lead of 171 runs as Westindies batsmen were sent to the pavilion in 259 runs. Kraig Brathwaite looked impressive with 70 runs, Jermaine Blackwood scored 68 runs too. Mehidy again impressed with 4 wickets under his name.

Bangladesh then set a target of 394 runs before declaring a 223/8 score. Skipper Mominul Haque registered a century.
On the course of chasing 394 runs, the Windies lost their first three batsmen within 59 runs.

Then Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner started a fight by scoring 216 runs in a partnership between them. After Bonner being dismissed at his personal 86 run, Mayers never looked defensive, he chased the target instead and scored 210 runs ultimately giving his team an emphatic win by 3 wickets.

#7 Devon Conway

The very recent batsman to be included in this cricket record is Kiwi batsman Devon Conway. Against an experienced English bowling lineup comprising someone like James Anderson, Stuart Broad scored 200 runs which are 52.91% of the total team score of 378.
He is the first batsman to achieve this feat in iconic Lord's cricket stadium and only the third non-English batsman to score a debut test hundred at Lord's after Australian Harry Graham and Indian great Sourav Ganguly.

Test cricket is the purest form of the game. From the invention of the game, test cricket has produced many legends and greats them. From Don Bradman to Sachin Tendulkar, Ambrose to Syen people have seen some greats of the game over the years. However, under the shadow of other flamboyant greats, few went unnoticed. As the World Test Championship Final is only one month away, we present you with the list of the 10 most underrated test cricketers of all time.

All about World Test Championship Final

The World Test Championship Final is going to begin from 18th June to 22nd June 2021. The two teams to participate in the WTC Final is India and New Zealand. The top ranker of the table was New Zealand after the league round of the World Test Championship. India confirmed their place in the Final after they won the home series against England.

India squad- Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).

New Zealand squad- Kane Williamson (c), Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Tom Blundell, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling (wk), Tom Latham, Daryll Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, Doug Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will Young.

Read Also: WTC Final: IND vs NZ All Players Stats, Records In England, WTC and against each other

10 most underrated test cricketers of all time

Since the beginning of cricket history, we have witnessed many cricketers who are good in their game but got overshadowed by other eminent cricketers. There is a saying that nobody remembers the second person who landed on the moon. Similarly, no one remembers those cricketers who did not show their greatest performances in most of the matches. There are so many underrated test cricketers who could have glorified more but got suppressed due to the extraordinary performances of their colleagues. Here is a list of the 10 most underrated test cricketers of all time who did not receive enough accolades that they truly deserved.

1. Younis Khan

Younis Khan, one of the most underrated test cricketers was a crucial part of the Pakistan cricket team. The two best years of his test cricket career were 2006 and 2014 where he made many well-known records. Some of his best knocks are 127 vs England (2012), 218 vs England (2016), and 267 & 84 vs India (2005). Even after his immense contribution to the team and a test average of 52, he is underrated.

Read also: WTC Final: IND Vs NZ All Players Stats, Records In England, WTC And Against Each Other

2. Chaminda Vaas

Chaminda Vaas, the former bowler of Sri Lanka, made his test in 1994 and since then he has played efficiently and became one of the best fast bowlers of Sri Lanka within a year. In the test match against West Indies in 2001-2002, he took a total of 14 wickets in the third test. In the test match he back 26 wickets against West Indies. He was also selected in the World Test XI by ICC in 2004 and 2005 for his exceptional bowling performances.

3. Irfan Pathan

Indian all-rounder former cricketer, Irfan Pathan was not acknowledged and appreciated enough for his talent, expertise, and caliber. He was a right-arm medium bowler who played 29 test matches and bagged 100 wickets.
He is also the second Indian to take three wickets in the first over of a test match against Pakistan on 29 January 2006.

4. Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke, the former skipper of Australia, had a dreamy cricket career. He played so many important knocks for his team but still got overshadowed because of the extraordinary batting lineup of Australia. Not only in batting, but he has also shown impeccable performance being the captain of the team. He played 115 test matches and schooled 8643 runs. In these test matches, he hit 27 half-centuries and 28 centuries with a batting average of 49.10.

5. Rangana Herath

Rangana Herath, the left-arm bowler of Sri-Lanka, has played exceptionally in his cricket career. Yet he did not get the recognition and accolades that he truly deserves. He is an absolute legend but has been considered as one very rarely. He played in 93 test matches where he successfully took 433 wickets which is an appreciated number. The legend has also made the record of the most number of wickets by a left-arm spinner in a test match.

6. Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith, the former South African cricketer is considered to be one of the best captains in test cricket with 53 wins. He became the captain of South Africa age of 22 only. He has made the world record of captaining the team in the most number of Test matches. Graeme played in 11 7 matches and scored 9265 runs within a batting average of 48.25. He has also scored 38 half-centuries and 27 centuries in 117 matches. He is also the record holder of the most number of catches by a non-wicketkeeper. The former captain is the fastest South African cricketer to reach 1000 runs in test cricket.

7. Ajit Agarkar

Ajit Agarkar, the former Indian bowler has been a part of 26 test matches. He is an unsung hero of the Indian team taken the Indian team out of difficulties many times. In the 26 matches, he took 58 wickets. One of the most spectacular performances by him is his 6-wicket haul in the second innings of the Adelaide Test in 2003.

8. Shivnarayan Chanderpaul

The former captain of the West Indies cricket team is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen during his time. Though he has proven his caliber by his stats and records, his teammates still overshadowed him at times. He has been a part of 164 test matches where he scored 11867 runs which is only 46 runs less than that of Brian Lara. This understated cricketer left behind legends like Gordon Greenidge, Vivian Richards, and Garfield Sobers.

9. Bj Watling

The former New Zealand international cricketer is considered to be one of the most underrated cricketers of all time despite his immense contribution to his team. He not only played for himself but also supported his teammates at tough times. The South African-born cricketer has supported players like Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson during their triple centuries. He has played 55 test matches and scored 3773 with an average of 38.11. Walting has also scored 19 half-centuries and 8 centuries in test cricket. He is also the ninth wicketkeeper with the most number of dismissals, 257.

10. Makhaya Ntini

Makhaya Ntini, the former South African fast bowler, is one of the best bowlers of his time. One of his most remarkable performances is when he 13 wickets and gave only 132 runs against West Indies in 2005. With this match, he has created the record of the second most number of wickets by a South African cricketer in a test match. He has played 101 matches in his Test career and bagged 390 wickets which is unknown to a lot of people. Due to his exceptional bowling, he has always been a pivotal part of the team but never got the deserved recognition and appreciation.