Captains who never won, never lost and never drew their Tests

The last of our survey of performances of Test captains.

Those who never won any Test:

This applies to 4 or more Tests.

The first two are predictably from the earlier Bangladeshi teams, although the number 3 is more surprising. He is followed by a Zimbabwean and a South African. The highest by India is surprisingly Vinoo Mankad with 6. Also note DK Gaekwad (lost all 4) and K Srikkanth (drew all 4).

The highest by a Test player is 42 Tests (23 losses, 19 draws) by B Sutcliffe, who was among the best batsmen from NZ for most of his career. He had captained his team in 4 Tests.

Those who never lost any Test:

This list is for 2 or more Tests.

W Armstrong heads this list with 10 Tests (8 wins and 2 draws) and DB Close and FG Mann both with 7. Current player AM Rahane has the best for India with 5 (4 wins and a draw). He is followed by Srikkanth with 4 draws.

The highest for any player is 21 (12 wins and 9 draws) by India’s RK Chauhan.

Those who never drew any Test:

These are for 4 or more Tests.

Headed by Waqar Younis with 17 (10 wins and 7 losses) and current Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor with 16 (a less impressive 3 wins and 13 losses). India’s best (?) is DK Gaekwad with 4 losses. Current South African Q de Kock also has 4. The trio of those with 4 wins out of 4 are also here: Bacher, Babar Azam and Lord Hawke.

The record for all Test players is held by current SA player AK Markram with 24 (14 wins and 10 losses) followed by GA Lohmann with 18 (15 wins and 3 losses).

Test captains with only wins, only losses and only draws

Those who won all the Tests in which they captained:

The record is 4, shared by A Bacher, current player Babar Azam and Lord Hawke of long ago. Three more have two, and the rest were lucky in their only opportunity (e.g. Ravi Shastri and Mashrafe Mortaza). In the latter case Shakib Al Hasan captained for most of the match.

For players who saw victory in all their Tests, the record is 10 by Eldine Baptiste.

Those who lost all the Tests in which they captained:

This is incomplete, but does include all those who captained in 2 or more Tests.

It is perhaps not surprising that the first two positions are by earlier captains of Bangladesh. The 3rd place goes to an Indian captain, who is currently the oldest living Indian Test player. There is also WTS Porterfield who has captained Ireland in all their three Tests. From recent times there is Mohammad Rizwan.

Some well-known players are here, such as AJ Lamb, AR Morris and RS Madugalle.

Players who lost all their Tests are led by Alok Kapali (17).

Those who drew all the Tests in which they captained:

The record is held by the unlikely K Srikkanth. He and Majid Khan were known to be aggressive batsmen.

There are a number of well-known players here including DL Murray, G Kirsten, GA Headley, IDS Smith, RR Lindwall and TW Graveney. India’s HR Adhikari gets credit here as he drew the Test after 3 successive heavy losses. He was the 4th Indian captain in that 5-Test series.

Players who drew all their Tests are CV Gadkari and Shafiq Ahmed (6 each).

Analyzing Test captaincies – 4

Here we look at captains with no wins, no losses and no draws.

No Wins:

These are captains in 4 or more Tests with no wins.

Headed by M Ashraful of Bangladesh with 13 (12 losses and 1 draw). The next (IT Botham) is more surprising. Another Bangladeshi Khaled Mashud also has 12.

In recent years there are AG Cremer (8) and KC Brathwaite (5).

From India there are MH Mankad (6), S Venkataraghavan (5) and others with 4.

No losses:

These are captains in 2 or more Tests with no losses.

WW Armstrong with 10 heads this list, with 8 wins and 2 draws.

Next are DB Close and FG Mann with 7.

In recent years there is only AM Rahane with 2; both of these wins were when he was standing in for Kohli.

From India we also have Srikkanth with 4 (all draws).

No draws:

These are captains in 3 or more Tests with no draws.

Headed by Waqar Younis (17, 10 wins and 7 losses). The next is Shakib with 14 (3 wins and 11 losses).

Others from recent times (other than Shakib) include R Herath, KC Brathwaite and RAS Lakmal with 5.

Brathwaite has 5 losses out of 5.

From India there is DK Gaekwad with 4 (all losses). He is presently India’s oldest living Test player.