Leading an international team in Test cricket is an esteemed feat any cricketer would love to achieve.
Graeme Smith, the former South African captain, holds the record for leading a team for the highest number of Test matches. The fifth youngest to lead any Test team also holds the record for most Test wins and most Test losses by a captain.
The last decade saw Joe Root, the former English captain, losing 26 of the Test matches he led. You can read his captaincy record here to understand how the champion batsman has faired as a skipper.
The fact that Root holds the record for most Test wins by an England captain and though he is not part of the top ten Ashes captains with most wins, tells you how poor England has been under him against Australia.
This article will list the top ten captains with the most Test losses.
Top 10 Captains with Most Test Losses
CAPTAINS | TEST LOSSES | MATCHES CAPTAINED | LOSS% |
---|---|---|---|
Graeme Smith (SA) | 29 | 109 | 26.61 |
Stephen Fleming (NZ) | 27 | 80 | 33.75 |
Brian Lara (WI) | 26 | 47 | 55.32 |
Joe Root (ENG) | 26 | 64 | 40.63 |
Alan Border (AUS) | 22 | 93 | 23.66 |
Alastair Cook (ENG) | 22 | 59 | 37.29 |
Michael Atherton (ENG) | 21 | 54 | 38.89 |
Jason Holder (WI) | 21 | 37 | 56.76 |
Kraigg Brathwaite (WI) | 20 | 35 | 57.14 |
Misbah-ul-Haq | 19 | 56 | 33.93 |
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (IND) | 19 | 40 | 47.5 |
Arjuna Ranatunga (SL) | 19 | 56 | 33.93 |
Key Stats
Ricky Ponting, who stands second to Graeme Smith in the most Test captaincy wins, impressively doesn’t find a place in the above list. He also leads the chart of players involved in most Test wins.
Among anyone who has led teams for more than 40 Tests, two West Indian skippers, Brian Lara and Jason Holder are the only two to have lost more than 50% of their captained Tests.
Contrary to Root’s disastrous loss%, the modern-day skippers Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are successful as they have lost only 25% of the games they led and have their winning percentages above 50.
You can find out the captaincy records of the notable modern-day captains here.