In pictures: 8 great batsmen who became successful Test captains

Besides being the most successful captain in Test cricket, Smith is also the cricketer to lead a team as captain for most matches in history. He is also the only player to captain a team in over 100 matches. From the 109 matches he has been a captain, he has won 53 of them with 29 losses and 27 draws. He captained the side from 2002-2014. Smith is the second leading Test run scorer from SA after Kallis with 9, 265 runs and an average of 48.25. (Pic/AFP)

Ganguly is regarded as one of the most successful captains in the modern era for India as well as a good batsman. Ganguly is the second player to captain India in most matches behind MS Dhoni. Dada lead the team in 49 matches with 21 wins, 13 losses and 15 draws from 2000-2005. As a batsman, Ganguly scored 7,212 runs averaging at 42.17. (Pic/ Suresh K.K.)

Undoubtedly, Australiau2019s best captain in history and one of the finest in the world, Steve has captained the side from 1999-2004. He lead the team in 57 matches, with an impressive 41 wins, only 9 losses and 7 draws. He also holds the record for his 16 consecutive Test wins. As a batsman, Steve Waugh scored an impressive 10,927 runs averaging at 51.06. (Pic/ Pradeep Mandhani)

King Viv, as he is fondly called, is one of the finest cricketers of all time as well as one of the best West Indies captains. He is the only WI captain to never lose a Test series. He has captained the side in 50 matches with 27 wins, 8 losses and 15 draws. He was the national teamu2019s captain from 1980-1991. Viv is also regarded as one of the best Test batsmen in history amassing 8,540 runs, third highest by a Windies player. His average is a remarkable 50.23. (Pic/ Archive)

Punter has been one of Australiau2019s most successful captains. He has lead the team for 77 matches and won 48 of them with 16 losses and 13 draws. He captained Australia from 2004-2010. As a batsman he has scored 13,378 Test runs with a brilliant average of 51.85 and is the second leading run scorer behind Sachin Tendulkar. (Pic/ Atul Kamble)

Lloyd can be considered the architect behind building West Indies as the most dominant side in the mid-70u2019s to the 80u2019s. He is the most experienced West Indies captain with 74 matches, winning 36 of them, with 12 losses and 26 draws. A prominent batsman, Lloyd has scored 7,515 runs in Tests with an average of 46.67. (Pic/ Archives)

Pup, as he is nicknamed, took over captaincy from the veteran Ponting, and did not fail to deliver. Clarke has been inspirational as a skipper to the Aussies. From 2011, he has captained the national squad in 40 matches winning 20 of them with 13 losses and 7 draws. Clarke is also a refined Test batsman with 8,432 runs and an average of 50.79 (Pic/ AFP)

The Sri Lankan player is an established Test cricketer as well as Lankau2019s most successful skipper. He captained the side in 38 matches winning 18, losing 12 and drawing 8. He lead the Test team from 2006-2013. He is considered one of SLu2019s finest batsmen and is the second highest scorer for the national side behind Kumara Sangakkara with 11,814 runs at an average of 49.84. (Pic/ AFP)