Not often does one get to see captains dropping themselves for the sake of the team in Cricket. However, there have been such instances where the captain kept the team above themselves to make some sensible decisions. It might or might not have had an impact on the team. But the courage to accept the failure or the situation deserves to be praised.
Cricket is a sport where no individual is above the sport. In many instances, some of the stars forget the fact and don’t acknowledge their poor form. But there are some players who helped their teams the best way possible with their sensible decision. They understood the fact that a player must be in the team either as a pure batter or as a pure bowler before becoming a captain.
Here are the three instances where the captains of a cricket side decided to drop themselves due to various reasons –
3. Misbah-ul-Haq against Australia in the ODI series, 2014
Pakistan was on the tour of Australia in 2014 for an ODI series of 3 matches. They were led by Misbah-ul-Haq who wasn’t in the best of his form coming into the series. The story did not change in the first two ODIs where he managed to bag a duck and scored 15 runs in the first and second matches of the series respectively. Hence, Misbah decided to drop himself for the last match of the series.
2. Rohit Sharma against Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25
Rohit Sharma had a terrible outing as a batter in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. The Indian batter scored just 31 runs in 5 innings at. a batting average of just 6.20 and a batting strike rate of 28.18. With the series on the line, Rohit decided that the best interest in the team was to drop himself and did exactly the same. Shubman Gill came in his place as Rohit got himself benched.
1.Dinesh Chandimal in the T20 World Cup 2014
Sri Lanka won the T20 World Cup 2014 under the leadership of two individuals – Dinesh Chandimal and Lasith Malinga. The former was the default Sri Lankan skipper in the tournament. However, his form wasn’t great in the tournament. Additionally, he picked up an injury and was forced to drop himself with three games left in the tournament. Malinga led them in the remaining matches as SL win their only T20 WC to date.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.