Lucky leaders

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has led India in three Tests so far - two as stop-gap captain and one after Anil Kumble retired - and he has won all of them. The first was against South Africa in Kanpur earlier this year, the next two were against Australia in Mohali and Nagpur during the recent series. If Dhoni can lead his team to a 2-0 victory in the upcoming Tests against England, he will leap leapfrog 12 other captains on the list of leaders with most consecutive victories after taking charge of a team.

The record for most wins in a row from captaincy debut belongs to Percy Chapman who was nine Tests old when he led England in 1926. His first assignment was the final Ashes Test at The Oval, a timeless match that England won by 289 runs to clinch the series 1-0. That victory was the first of nine in a row for England under Chapman. The streak included a hat-trick of innings victories against West Indies and the first four Ashes Tests in Australia in 1928-29. Chapman captained England in 17 Tests, of which they lost only two.

The mark Chapman passed was that of Warwick Armstrong, who led Australia to eight successive victories against England in 1920-21. His run was broken during the 1921 Ashes in England, the last two three-day Tests of which were drawn. Armstrong's captaincy record read: eight wins, two draws and no defeats.

Most consecutive Test wins from captaincy debut

Player	Mat		Start Match	Opposition	Scorecard		End Match	Opposition	Scorecard
APF Chapman	9		Aug 14, 1926	v Australia	Test 167		Jun 13, 1930	v Australia	Test 194
WW Armstrong	8		Dec 17, 1920	v England	Test 135		Jul 2, 1921	v England	Test 142
WG Grace	4		Aug 13, 1888	v Australia	Test 29		Aug 11, 1890	v Australia	Test 34
Lord Hawke	4		Mar 2, 1896	v South Africa	Test 48		Apr 1, 1899	v South Africa	Test 59
DB Close	4		Aug 18, 1966	v West Indies	Test 609		Jul 13, 1967	v India	Test 620
A Bacher	4		Jan 22, 1970	v Australia	Test 670		Mar 5, 1970	v Australia	Test 673
AG Steel	3		Jul 5, 1886	v Australia	Test 22		Aug 12, 1886	v Australia	Test 24
JM Blackham	3		Mar 14, 1885	v England	Test 20		Jan 29, 1892	v England	Test 36
PW Sherwell	3		Jan 2, 1906	v England	Test 88		Mar 10, 1906	v England	Test 90
AER Gilligan	3		Jun 14, 1924	v South Africa	Test 153		Jul 12, 1924	v South Africa	Test 155
AL Hassett	3		Dec 24, 1949	v South Africa	Test 318		Jan 20, 1950	v South Africa	Test 320
L Hutton	3		Jun 5, 1952	v India	Test 351		Jul 17, 1952	v India	Test 353
WM Lawry	3		Jan 19, 1968	v India	Test 626		Jun 6, 1968	v England	Test 637
RT Ponting	3		Mar 8, 2004	v Sri Lanka	Test 1685		Mar 24, 2004	v Sri Lanka	Test 1691
MS Dhoni	3		Apr 11, 2008	v South Africa	Test 1873		Nov 6, 2008	v Australia	Test 1892

India did not lose any of Sunil Gavaskar's first 18 Tests as captain - the second longest such streak. Gavaskar's first defeat was against Australia in Sydney in 1981, nearly five years after his captaincy debut. His win percentage during that period, however, was only 33 - India drew 12 out of those 18 Tests - though four of the six wins contributed to series victories at home against West Indies, Australia and Pakistan.

Kapil Dev, who was Gavaskar's long-term successor as Indian captain didn't have as successful a start. India did not win any of Kapil's first 20 Tests as captain, losing six and drawing 14. Only in June 1986 did they savour victory for the first time under him. And the win was a momentous one - India's first ever success at Lord's. Fittingly, Kapil, who was named Player of the Match hit the winning runs.

The top three captains with the largest number of consecutive defeats after captaincy debut are all from Bangladesh. The two Khaleds, Mashud and Mahmud, are the leaders with 12 and nine defeats respectively. Mohammad Ashraful could have been in contention to equal Mahmud had rain not forced a draw in the recent Test against New Zealand in Mirpur and ended his streak on eight losses.

In one-day internationals, Inzamam-ul-Haq's streak of nine matches is the longest for a captain before a maiden defeat. He was the stop-gap option when the incumbent, Waqar Younis, was rested for the final two ODIs of the tour of Zimbabwe in 2002. Pakistan won both those matches and Inzamam was appointed captain after Waqar presided over a disastrous World Cup campaign in South Africa. Under Inzamam, Pakistan swept aside Bangladesh 5-0 at home and beat South Africa twice in Lahore before losing to them in Rawalpindi. The future captain most likely to beat Inzamam's streak is Michael Clarke. Australia have won all five of the ODIs in which Clarke has stood in for Ricky Ponting.

Zimbabwe's 17 consecutive defeats under Tatenda Taibu is the worst beginning for a captain in ODIs. Mashud is in third place with 14 but he actually went 26 matches in a row without a victory as Bangladesh captain. That streak included 24 defeats but it was interrupted by two washouts against West Indies.