Temba Bavuma, the South African skipper, gets ready to bat
Several players have led their teams in this format, but only a few of them have genuinely been able to dominate in the same way with their leadership. Even in the Test format, there are a few captains who hold the record of reaching the 10-wins mark with the least number of games. Let’s take a look at these captains and how many games they took to reach 10 wins in the Test format.
Temba Bavuma has now surpassed the record that was earlier held by Lindsay Hassett. Bavuma has made this record possible with his captaincy, which started just a few years back. And now, he has become the first captain to take just 11 games for his team to win 10 Test matches. Bavuma has just set the benchmark for anyone who will be leading their side in the Test format.
He started off his captaincy stint for South Africa in early 2023. For the majority of the time, he was unavailable to play the Test matches for the team. Injuries affected his playing time, due to which even the Proteas had to look forward to the other captains in his place.
But Lord Bavuma made sure to announce his comeback in style. He even helped South Africa to reach the finals of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, where the team played against Australia. The finals were set to be played at the Lord’s, where Bavuma got his biggest win as a captain. He helped South Africa to win its first ICC title in the 21st century.
With the win in the WTC final, Bavuma became the first captain to not lose any of the first ten test games where he led the team. This helped him to break the 148-year-old record and get it in his name. Moreover, winning an ICC trophy for South Africa came as a great moment for Bavuma, as it also helped him to be recognised.
His tenth win as a Test captain came in the first Test against India at the Eden Gardens. Bavuma scored a half-century in this game and set the stage for the chase. India lost the game by 30 runs, as Temba Bavuma ended up getting his 10th Test win as a captain in just 11 matches.
Lindsay Hassett held the record of being the fastest captain to reach 10 wins in the test format. He had achieved this record a long time ago, and fans thought it to be nearly impossible for any player to break the same. Hassett started by playing under Sir Don Bradman.
And one legend recognized the other, as Bradman decided to hand over the captaincy to Hassett. Since then, he led the Australian team from 1949 to 1953 and helped them to dominate across regions. He was the captain of the team in 24 games, where they won 14, lost 4, and the remaining 6 ended in a draw.
Out of these games, the first 12 came out to be the best time for Lindsay Hassett as a captain. Whether the team went against England or South Africa, Hassett was able to bring his calm spirit to the game, which helped him to make some great decisions in favour of the team. Under his captaincy, Australia won the tour of South Africa by 4-0.
Following this, another memorable series win under his captaincy came at the home Ashes 1950-51. This time, Hassett was able to lead Australia’s win against England by 4-1. He last led the Australian team in the test format against England in 1953. Although Australia ended up losing the same, Hassett remained the team’s top scorer.
Ben Stokes, the current English captain in the Test format, also has his name in this iconic list. It should be noted that Stokes is currently leading England in the Ashes, which is set to commence from 21 November. His record is similar to Lindsay Hassett’s, as Stokes also took 12 games to reach his first ten test wins as a captain.
He started to lead the England team in the Test format from 2020. Till now, Stokes has led the side in a total of 37 Test matches, out of which England has been able to win 22. The team has only lost 13 matches, and the remaining two games finished in a draw. With his captaincy, England has also appointed a new approach to the game, Bazball.
Ben Stokes has been a lot different as a captain compared to the others discussed in this list. He has contributed to England with both bat and ball across all the games. The duo of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, with their new approach of Bazball, has helped England to reach new heights even in the longest format of the game.
It should be noted that Stokes holds yet another record that any other captain might not be able to achieve. Stokes has helped England to win a test match where he scored a century and also took a five-wicket haul. His winning percentage in this format remains at 59.45, which is far better than the other captains who have led the team lately.
Talking about the records made by the Test skippers would be incomplete if Ricky Ponting did not have his name in the list. Ponting has been one of the most successful Test captains for the Australian team, as he continued the team’s legacy in this format for decades. He took just 13 Test matches for his team to get 10 wins with him as a captain.
Under his captaincy, Australia had entered a fierce era. The team used to sledge their opponents to a great extent, and get into their minds to win the games. These tactics helped Ponting to establish his legacy as a Test captain, leading Australia in a massive total of 77 Test matches. Out of these, Australia was able to win 48 games and lose just 16.
Australia had a strong side with Ponting as their captain. The squad had players such as McGrath, Warne, Hayden, Gilchrist, and later Clarke and Johnson. It didn’t matter to them whether the opponents were England or India, or any other team. They would just go on to win the series without any interruptions. Despite him being named at number four in this list, he has several other records to his name as a Test captain.
During the 2006-07 Ashes, Ricky Ponting led Australia to win the series with a whitewash. This made him the first Australian captain to do so in 86 years, creating some records of his own. His numbers in the Test format have also been strong, which shows that Ponting didn’t just lead the team by giving instructions. H e led from the front.
Another Australian player would end this iconic list of captains to be the fastest for 10 wins in the Test format. And this is one whom many of the fans might not remember, as it is Billy Woodfull. He was a part of the Australian team for a long time, and even acted as an important figure for them while leading the side in the longest format of the game.
Woodfull stands at the fifth spot in this list, as he took just 14 Test matches to reach 10 wins as a captain. This may be less as compared to the records now, but he played a vital role to shape the Australian team in the test format. And he was not just known for the way he plays the game, he was also known for his character.
Due to his batting style, he was also known as “The Unbowlable” and “Rock of Gibraltar”, which shows how difficult it was for the bowlers to take his wicket. In his Test career, he had cemented his place as an opening batsman of the team, and went on to score runs consistently across games. As a captain, Billy Woodfull led Australia in 25 games, and helped them to win 14 games.
Out of all the games where Billy led the Australian team, he led them with courage. He has been known for showing moral courage to the game, which has helped him to gain popularity not just in Australia but even across different parts of the world.