Dhoni's away record takes a beating

MS Dhoni has had his captaincy record in away Tests ruined by India's seven consecutive defeats in England and Australia. In July 2011, after the tour of West Indies and before the Pataudi Trophy, India had played 12 Tests away from home under Dhoni's leadership, of which they won five and lost only two. That record is now played 19, won five and lost nine. At home, however, Dhoni has led India in 18 Tests, with 12 wins and only one defeat to South Africa.

Dhoni's stuck with his overseas record for a while because he's been banned from the Adelaide Test for a repeat over-rate offence, and India don't have another tour for about two years. This week's column is about captains with the largest differences between win percentages in home and away Tests. We've excluded draws from our calculations.

Two other Indian captains had reasonable results at home but miserable ones while on tour. Mohammad Azharuddin's India won 13 out of 20 home Tests but only one out of 27 away games. The solitary victory was at the SSC in Colombo in 1993, when India beat Sri Lanka by 235 runs. Sachin Tendulkar's India didn't even manage that. He was captain in 13 away Tests, of which India lost six and drew seven. Of 12 home games under Tendulkar, India won four and lost three.

In 1984, Australia under Kim Hughes were beaten in three consecutive Tests in the Caribbean to lose the series 0-3 to West Indies. Those results significantly worsened Hughes' away record as captain. Australia had won one and lost 11 out of 20 away Tests with him as leader. Their next assignment was a home series against West Indies and, under Hughes, they lost the first two Tests at the WACA and the Gabba. The results were Hughes' first defeats at home (captained in eight, won three, lost two) but the strain of five consecutive losses to West Indies claimed its victim. Hughes resigned the captaincy in tears in Brisbane and only played two more Tests for Australia.

Win/loss % of captains at home compared to away from home - Tests (at least 8 matches, both at home and away; excluding draws)

Player	Span	Mat		Home	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	%		Away	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	%		Diff
M Azharuddin (India)	1990-1999	47		20	13	4	0	3	76.47		27	1	10	0	16	9.09		67.38
AH Kardar (Pak)	1952-1958	23		9	3	0	0	6	100.00		14	3	6	0	5	33.33		66.67
RGD Willis (Eng)	1982-1984	18		9	6	1	0	2	85.71		9	1	4	0	4	20.00		65.71
CA Walsh (WI)	1994-1997	22		9	2	0	0	7	100.00		13	4	7	0	2	36.36		63.64
SR Tendulkar (India)	1996-2000	25		12	4	3	0	5	57.14		13	0	6	0	7	0.00		57.14
MS Dhoni (India)	2008-2012	37		18	12	1	0	5	92.30		19	5	9	0	5	35.71		56.59
GP Howarth (NZ)	1980-1985	30		17	8	1	0	8	88.88		13	3	6	0	4	33.33		55.56
SM Pollock (SA)	2000-2003	26		13	10	0	0	3	100.00		13	4	5	0	4	44.44		55.56
Wasim Akram (Pak)	1993-1999	25		8	5	0	0	3	100.00		17	7	8	0	2	46.66		53.33
SM Gavaskar (India)	1976-1985	47		29	7	2	0	20	77.77		18	2	6	0	10	25.00		52.78
KJ Hughes (Aus)	1979-1984	28		8	3	2	0	3	60.00		20	1	11	0	8	8.33		51.67
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1980-1993	34		22	10	1	0	11	90.90		12	4	5	0	3	44.44		46.46
WR Hammond (Eng)	1938-1947	20		10	3	1	0	6	75.00		10	1	2	0	7	33.33		41.67
BC Lara (WI)	1997-2006	47		27	9	10	0	8	47.36		20	1	16	0	3	5.88		41.49
PBH May (Eng)	1955-1961	41		26	16	4	0	6	80.00		15	4	6	0	5	40.00		40.00
JM Brearley (Eng)	1977-1981	31		19	12	0	0	7	100.00		12	6	4	0	2	60.00		40.00
Imran Khan (Pak)	1982-1992	48		22	9	2	0	11	81.81		26	5	6	0	15	45.45		36.36
RB Simpson (Aus)	1964-1978	39		15	7	3	0	5	70.00		24	5	9	0	10	35.71		34.29
A Ranatunga (SL)	1989-1999	56		27	8	6	0	13	57.14		29	4	13	0	12	23.52		33.61
LRD Mendis (SL)	1982-1987	19		11	2	4	0	5	33.33		8	0	4	0	4	0.00		33.33

In one-day internationals, England under Mike Atherton's captaincy had a dichotomous record between home and away results. They won 12 out of 15 home matches, and reverses against West Indies and Pakistan in Nottingham in 1995 and 1996 were the only defeats. Away from home, however, Atherton's England lost 19 and won only eight out of 28 ODIs. It included a disastrous 1996 World Cup campaign, during which England won only two of six matches, with those wins coming against minnows UAE and Netherlands.

Sri Lanka under Sanath Jayasuriya were a formidable one-day side at home, and won more than they lost in away ODIs as well. At home, they won 24 and lost only six out of 32 matches during Jayasuriya's tenure between 1998 and 2003. Away from Sri Lanka during that period, they won 42 and lost 41 out of 86 ODIs. Under Mahela Jayawardene between 2004 and 2009, however, Sri Lanka won a greater percentage of away matches than they did home games. Out of 26 ODIs at home, Sri Lanka won 12 and lost 13. They played 68 matches away from home under Jayawardene, out of which they won 42 and lost 22.

Win/loss % of captains at home compared to away from home - ODIs (at least 15 matches, both at home and away)

Player	Span	Mat		Home	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%		Away	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%		Diff
MA Atherton (Eng)	1994-1997	43		15	12	2	0	1	85.71		28	8	19	1	0	30.35		55.36
LRD Mendis (SL)	1982-1987	61		19	7	8	0	4	46.66		42	4	38	0	0	9.52		37.14
Mohammad Ashraful (Ban)	2007-2009	38		17	7	10	0	0	41.17		21	1	20	0	0	4.76		36.41
MS Atapattu (SL)	2001-2006	63		27	20	6	0	1	76.92		36	15	21	0	0	41.66		35.26
A Ranatunga (SL)	1988-1999	193		48	32	11	0	5	74.41		145	57	84	1	3	40.49		33.93
GP Howarth (NZ)	1980-1985	60		18	13	4	0	1	76.47		42	18	22	0	2	45.00		31.47
HH Streak (Zim)	2000-2004	68		24	11	12	0	1	47.82		44	7	35	0	2	16.66		31.16
ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1998-2003	118		32	24	6	0	2	80.00		86	42	41	2	1	50.58		29.41
SO Tikolo (Kenya)	2001-2011	73		32	17	15	0	0	53.12		41	10	29	0	2	25.64		27.48
SR Tendulkar (India)	1996-2000	73		18	9	8	0	1	52.94		55	14	35	1	5	29.00		23.94
M Azharuddin (India)	1990-1999	174		58	40	17	1	0	69.82		116	50	59	1	6	45.90		23.92
MD Crowe (NZ)	1990-1993	44		28	16	12	0	0	57.14		16	5	10	0	1	33.33		23.81
Habibul Bashar (Ban)	2004-2007	69		29	16	13	0	0	55.17		40	13	27	0	0	32.50		22.67
CA Walsh (WI)	1994-1997	43		15	10	5	0	0	66.66		28	12	15	0	1	44.44		22.22
KC Sangakkara (SL)	2009-2011	45		27	18	6	0	3	75.00		18	9	8	0	1	52.94		22.06
KC Wessels (SA)	1992-1994	52		21	11	10	0	0	52.38		31	9	20	0	2	31.03		21.35
KR Rutherford (NZ)	1993-1995	37		19	7	11	1	0	39.47		18	3	13	0	2	18.75		20.72
GC Smith (SA)	2003-2011	149		63	44	14	1	4	75.42		86	48	37	0	1	56.47		18.95
IVA Richards (WI)	1980-1991	105		26	19	5	0	2	79.16		79	48	31	0	0	60.75		18.41
Wasim Akram (Pak)	1993-2000	109		17	13	4	0	0	76.47		92	53	37	2	0	58.69		17.77