Top 5 captains with highest winning percentage in Tests

Test cricket has seen long periods of dominance by some teams which were a cut above the rest. In Test cricket’s history, there have been some formidable sides which were the dominant teams of their eras. Notable among them were Don Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’, the Australian team of 1948, the mighty Windies of the 70s and 80s and the all-conquering Australian team of the 2000s. One thing common among all these sides was that they were led by brilliant leaders who got the best out of their players. While some great captains were brilliant tacticians, others were inspirational leaders who led by example with their exemplary skills at batting and bowling.

The West Indies team which ruled the roost in the 70s and the 80s were led by Clive Lloyd and Sir Viv Richards. The Australians had great captains in Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting who cemented the Baggy Greens' position as the indisputable champions of Test cricket. The South Africans rose rapidly in stature as a Test powerhouse under Hansie Cronje and Graeme Smith.

The Indians became a competitive Test unit both at home and away under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have further taken the team to loftier heights. Meanwhile, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram have been hailed as the best ever to lead Pakistan. Some other notable Test captains have been Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga and Stephen Fleming for New Zealand.

In the last decade, Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Faf Du Plessis and Alistair Cook have enjoyed a considerable amount of success as captains of their respective Test sides.

So let us have a look at the Test captains who were the most successful across the history of Test cricket.

Disclaimer: To rank my top five Test captains, I have only taken those skippers who captained their sides for a considerable time frame and notched up wins on a consistent basis both at home and away. I have kept 50 percent win percentage as the minimum benchmark for my selection.

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Just missed the Cut

Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor is rightfully credited for rebuilding a struggling Australian team into one of the top Test units in world credit. Taylor was an astute strategist and a keen student of the game who played according to the strength of his side and exposed the weakness of the opposition. Mark Taylor brought about an end to the dominance of the West Indies in Tests when his Australian side stunned the Windies 2-1 in their own den.

In the early and mid-90s, Taylor became an important cog in the Australian batting unit with fellow opener Michael Slater. Taylor’s Baggy Greens had a solid middle order with the stylish Mark Waugh and the tenacious Steve Waugh in their ranks. Taylor’s bowling trump card was the spin maestro Shane Warne who cast a web around most of the top batsmen in world cricket.

The Australian pace attack had a good blend of experience and youth with Craig McDermott, Paul Reiffel and Glen McGrath. Tayor did the spadework to set up the foundation of a formidable Australian team which blossomed under the captaincy of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

Mark Taylor Captaincy Record

Matches 50 Won 26 Lost 13 Win % - 52

Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan

When Australia were ruling Test cricket in the early 2000s, only a select few sides could match up to their might and pose as serious challengers. One of them was Michael Vaughan-led English team. Michael Vaughan instilled an aggressive mindset into English cricket and helped them shed away the 'Purist' tag.

The elegant stroke maker was an astute reader of the game and made England a force to reckon with in red ball cricket. Vaughan had the team at his disposal to take English cricket to the very top. He had a power-packed batting lineup comprising of Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen.

The English bowling had variety and depth with quality swing bowlers in Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson and Simon Jones. Vaughan built an English team on a strong foundation laid down by his predecessor Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher.

In 2004, England were unbeatable at home winning 11 Tests and forging some memorable wins over South Africa and West Indies. Vaughan’s greatest achievement as captain came in 2005 when England ended Australia’s long hegemony in the Ashes by beating their old foes 2-1 in one of the most dramatic Test series.

Michael Vaughan Captaincy Record

Matches 51 Won 26 Lost 11 Drawn 14 Win % - 50.98

#5 Hansie Cronje

Hansie Cronje of South Africa

Hansie Cronje is credited for turning South Africa into one of the most formidable units in Test cricket. Cronje was a master tactician and knew how to extract the best out of the Proteas. Hansie had enough firepower both in batting and bowling to fine tune the side into a resilient unit. He leveraged Bob Woolmer’s techno-savvy tactics and deciphered match-winning strategies for the Proteas. Cronje built a strong South African side around stalwarts like Allan Donald, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Jonty Rhodes, Gary Kristen and Brian McMillan to name a few.

Under Cronje's captaincy, South Africa were pretty much unbeatable at home and boasted of an impressive record on their overseas tours. As a middle-order batsman, Cronje more often than not chipped in with valuable runs and was pretty handy with his military medium pace. Post their readmission to Test cricket in 1991, Hansie catapulted South Africa as a force to reckon within a very short span of time. Before Australia became the Kings of Test cricket in the first decade of the new millennium, South Africa were arguably the most consistent side in Test cricket in the mid and the late 90s.

Hansie Cronje Captaincy Record

Played 53 Won 27 Lost 11 Drawn 15 Win % - 50.94

#4 Sir Vivian Richards

Sir Vivian Richards

Few sides have dominated Test cricket the way the mighty West Indies did in the mid-70s and early 80s. The Caribbean Kings were the undisputed Numero Uno of Test cricket courtesy their sheer dominance. A power-packed Windies side boasting of some of their greatest cricketers were led brilliantly by the greatest of them all, Sir Vivian Richards. The charismatic Richards did brilliantly to harness the talent of those gifted cricketers and make them play to their fullest potential at the very highest level. Richards was spoilt for choices be it batting or bowling.

The power-packed batting unit comprising of Gordan Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Larry Gomes, Sir Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd were a nightmare for any bowling unit. The fearsome pace battery of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall tormented the best batting line-ups. Richards was one of the most imposing batsmen of his era with his belligerent stroke play.

Under Richards’ captaincy, the Windies remained unbeaten in all their Test series for most of the 80s. Moreover, promising youngsters like Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Patrick Patterson were all groomed during Richards captaincy stint to reach lofty heights later in their careers.

Vivian Richards Captaincy Record

Played 53 Won 27 Lost 8 Drawn 15 Win % - 54

#3 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has proven his pedigree as a world-class batsman by scoring runs with superlative consistency all over the world. Much like his batting, he has proven to be an able leader and aggressive captain under whom the Indian team has risen to the very pinnacle of Test cricket. Since taking over the reins of the captaincy from MS Dhoni, the Indian team has gone from strength to strength.

In 2016 and 2017, India had a fabulous year winning consecutive Test series on the trot. The Kohli-led Indian team became an impregnable fortress at home and rose to become the Number One Test playing nation. Kohli has already surpassed some past greats like Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin in terms of numbers of matches won. With 23 wins under his belt, he is only second to MS Dhoni as India’s most successful Test skipper

Kohli has been the mainstay of the Indian batting and leads a formidable unit boasting of seasoned batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. The spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been his ace trump cards in bamboozling opposition batting line-ups on spin-friendly tracks back at home. Above all, the Indian pace attack of Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah has looked potent tp bowl out sides in overseas conditions. Given the stellar start he has had as a captain, Kohli is destined to reach greater heights in times to come.

Virat Kohli Captaincy Record

Matches 38 Won 22 Lost 7 Drawn 9 Win % - 57.89

#2 Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting skippered the Australian team when they were at the peak of their prowess in the first decade of the new millennium. Ponting took over the mantle of captaincy from Steve Waugh and proved to be a highly successful captain with his aggressive leadership. As a captain, Ricky was spoilt for choices as he had a plethora of match winners both in batting and bowling.

At his disposal were the lethal opening combo of Hayden-Langer and the formidable middle order comprising of himself, Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey and Adam Gilchrist.

He set attacking fields for his lethal pace battery of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Mitchell Johnson and Bret Lee and used spin wizard Shane Warne to bowl out batting lineups. Playing at home or touring abroad, the Australians were certainly in a league of their own. Ponting spearheaded Australia's batting efforts for almost half a decade by notching up match winning tons and ended as Australia’s leading Test run scorer.

With 48 Test wins to his credit, Ponting surpassed some great captains like Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and Allan Border to become Australia’s most successful Test captain.

Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record

Matches 77 Won 48 Lost 16 Drawn 13 Win % - 62.33

#1 Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh

Not many would be surprised with Steve Waugh topping the list of most successful Test captains. The gritty and determined Waugh was a tough nut to crack and proved to be an able successor to his illustrious predecessor Mark Taylor. Under his brilliant captaincy, Steve Waugh turned Australia into a winning machine which went onto win a record 16 consecutive Test matches.

'Tugga' instilled a high degree of combativeness into the Australians which made them a fighting unit with a never say die attitude. Waugh was certainly blessed to lead a bunch of legendary cricketers who were outright match-winners in their own merit. The Golden era of Australian cricket saw the greats of the game in McGrath, Waugh, Warne, Ponting, Gilchrist, Hayden and Lee at the peaks of their prowess.

Steve Waugh led by example with the willow and strung together some match-saving partnerships with the tailenders when the chips were down for his side. A lion-hearted character with nerves of steel, pressure got the best out of Waugh’s captaincy and he certainly led by example

He remains the only captain in Test history to boast of a win percentage of over 70.

Steve Waugh Captaincy Record

Matches 57 Won 41 Lost 9 Drawn 7 Win % - 71.92