When Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took on Dolphins in the group stage of the ongoing Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014, Gautam Gambhir became only the second player after to lead the side in 100 T20 matches. Bharath Seervi pulls out some numbers related to captaincy in T20s.
Gautam Gambhir captained for the 100th time in his T20 career when his team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), took on Dolphins in the ongoing Champions League T20 at Hyderabad. Gambhir is only the second to reach this feat in T20s after MS Dhoni, who has captained in a record 183 T20 matches so far. Gambhir captained in 19 matches for Delhi Daredevils (DD), five for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the rest 76 for KKR.
In the 100 matches captained by Gambhir, his team won 60 matches and lost 38 of those. One ended in a tie and one without any result. Gambhir has 61.11% success as captain; this includes 59.33 for the KKR, 57.89% for DD and 100% for Delhi.
Gambhir’s captaincy record
Team
Matches
Won
Lost
Tied
N/R
Win %
Kolkata Knight Riders
76
44
30
1
1
59.33
Delhi Daredevils
19
11
8
0
0
57.89
Delhi
5
5
0
0
0
100
Overall
100
60
38
1
1
61.11
Players who captained in 50 or more T20 matches
There are 27 others who captained in 50 or more matches in T20 cricket. Many of the captains are from the IPL teams and the domestic T20 teams of England. MS Dhoni has played 189 T20 matches in his career out of which in 183 he remained the captain. Below is the table listing all those captains with their win-loss record.
Player
Span
M
Won
Lost
Tied
NR
Win %
MS Dhoni
2007 to 2014
183
107
72
2
2
59.66
Gautam Gambhir
2009 to 2014
100
60
38
1
1
61.11
Robert Key
2006 to 2014
83
46
34
2
1
57.31
Adam Gilchrist
2007 to 2013
83
40
43
0
0
48.19
Darren Sammy
2006 to 2014
82
42
37
1
2
53.12
Kumar Sangakkara
2009 to 2013
80
34
44
2
0
43.75
George Bailey
2007 to 2014
72
42
28
1
1
59.85
Shoaib Malik
2005 to 2014
70
50
17
2
1
73.91
Cameron White
2006 to 2014
70
43
26
1
0
62.14
Shane Warne
2004 to 2013
64
34
29
1
0
53.9
William Porterfield
2008 to 2014
63
37
23
0
3
61.66
Misbah-ul-Haq
2006 to 2014
61
43
17
1
0
71.31
Mohammad Hafeez
2005 to 2014
61
39
21
1
0
64.75
Brendon McCullum
2008 to 2014
61
25
31
2
3
44.82
Mushfiqur Rahim
2011 to 2014
60
29
30
0
1
49.15
Dale Benkenstein
2004 to 2012
60
24
29
2
5
45.45
Virender Sehwag
2006 to 2012
58
32
26
0
0
55.17
Daniel Vettori
2006 to 2013
58
28
28
2
0
50
Andrew Gale
2010 to 2014
58
26
28
1
3
48.18
Mahela Jayawardene
2006 to 2013
57
29
26
2
0
52.63
David Hussey
2006 to 2013
56
32
19
3
2
62.03
Sachin Tendulkar
2008 to 2011
55
32
23
0
0
58.18
Gareth Hopkins
2006 to 2014
54
29
22
2
1
56.6
James Foster
2008 to 2013
54
29
23
0
2
55.76
Rahul Dravid
2008 to 2013
54
27
27
0
0
50
Simon Katich
2007 to 2014
53
24
25
2
2
49.01
Daryl Mitchell
2010 to 2014
53
25
28
0
0
47.16
Alviro Petersen
2009 to 2014
50
20
25
1
4
44.56
Collins Obuya
2011 to 2013
50
18
31
0
1
36.73
Gambhir’s success rate of 61.11% is remarkable. If minimum of 50 matches is considered, Gambhir stands seventh on the list. Malik (73.91% )has the highest success rate in T20s for a cut-off with a minimum of 50 matches. The second and third places are also occupied by Pakistan players — Misbah (71.31%) and Hafeez (64.75%). The table below provides the complete list.
Player
M
Win %
Shoaib Malik
70
73.91
Misbah-ul-Haq
61
71.31
Mohammad Hafeez
61
64.75
Cameron White
70
62.14
David Hussey
56
62.03
William Porterfield
63
61.66
Gautam Gambhir
100
61.11
George Bailey
72
59.85
MS Dhoni
183
59.66
Sachin Tendulkar
55
58.18
Robert Key
83
57.31
Gareth Hopkins
54
56.6
James Foster
54
55.76
Virender Sehwag
58
55.17
Gambhir has captained KKR in 61 consecutive matches since September 25, 2011. In this T20 league, he overcame Dhoni’s streak of 59 consecutive matches as captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The table below displays the full list.
Most consecutive matches as captain of a team in T20 cricket
M
Captain
Team
Span
61*
Gautam Gambhir
Kolkata Knight Riders
2011 to current
59
MS Dhoni
Chennai Super Kings
2010 to 2012
45*
William Porterfield
Ireland
2010 to current
44*
Daryl Mitchell
Worcestershire
2011 to current
43
Shane Warne
Rajasthan Royals
2008 to 2011
42
Chris Adams
Sussex
2003 to 2008
42
Adam Gilchrist
Deccan Chargers
2008 to 2010
42*
MS Dhoni
Chennai Super Kings
2013 to current
40
Rahul Dravid
Rajasthan Royals
2012 to 2013
39
Gareth Hopkins
Auckland
2010 to current
38
Collins Obuya
Kenya
2011 to 2013
37
Shoaib Malik
Sialkot Stallions
2010 to current
36*
Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore
2012 to current
35
Anil Kumble
Royal Challengers Bangalore
2009 to 2010
Gambhir has proved as successful as Dhoni as a T20 leader. He has won two IPL trophies for the KKR in last three seasons and has led the team strongly in the ongoing Champions League T20 as well. There is no doubt why Gambhir has been in talks for the captaincy for the Indian T20I team.
If he can display a good form in batting, he should ideally replace Dhoni in the shortest format. Will the selectors look upon this? More importantly, will he be even selected?
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
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