Playing in international cricket is considered a huge achievement for any young player. There are very few such players among these who get a chance to captain the national team. It is a matter of pride for every player to captain his country at the international level.
But taking charge of the country as a captain is a challenging task for every player. Whenever a team is successful in winning the ICC (International Cricket Council) trophy while performing well, then the captain is most praised. But sometimes teams fail to perform as expected in major ICC events, in which case the captain of the team has to leave his post.
There have been many great captains in international cricket, under whose captaincy their teams have been successful in winning many ICC trophies. But, there have been many captains under whose captaincy his team did not win any ICC trophy, while his record as a captain was very good.
In this article today, we will take a look at 4 legendary captains under whose captaincy their team did not win a ICC trophy.
Mahela Jayawardene
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene is counted among the legends of the cricket world. Jayawardene’s international cricket career spanned over 18 years. He captained the Sri Lanka team from 2004 to 2013, which included all three formats.
Under the leadership of the right-handed batsman, Sri Lanka played 126 ODIs and 19 T20Is. Jayawardene could not win a single ICC trophy for Sri Lanka under his leadership. Although Sri Lanka had reached the final in the ICC World Cup 2007 under his captaincy, Australia won the match though.
Graeme Smith
Former left-handed batsman Graeme Smith has been South Africa’s most successful captain. Under his captaincy, the Proteas team was counted among the strongest teams.
Smith captained the African team from 2003 to 2011, and under his captaincy, South Africa played 8 ICC tournaments (2 World Cups, 3 T20 World Cups, 3 Champions Trophy). But in every tournament, the Africa team was disappointed. Smith was not able to win any ICC trophy under his captaincy.
AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers is famous all over the world (even after his retirement) for his terrific batting in world. Apart from being a brilliant batsman, de Villiers was also a great captain. De Villiers led the South African team from 2012 to 2017.
Under his captaincy, the African team played a total of 4 ICC tournaments (1 World Cup, 1 T20 World Cup, 2 Champions Trophy). But in none of these tournaments the South African team could win any of those tournament.
Virat Kohli
The former captain of the Indian cricket team is also included in this list. Virat Kohli achieved many big world records on the strength of his batting. But while captaining, Kohli was also deprived of winning the ICC trophy.
Kohli was the captain of the Indian team from 2013 to 2022. Under his captaincy, India played two final matches of ICC tournaments (2017 Champions Trophy, 2021 World Test Championship) but India had to face defeat in both the matches.