Ben Stokes vs Rohit Sharma: Who was the better Test captain?

Ben Stokes recently announced his retirement from international cricket, ending not only an illustrious playing career, but also his exciting tenure as England's Test captain. His time as the skipper of the Three Lions coincided with Rohit Sharma's time as India's leader in the longest format of the game.

Rohit took over as the Men in Blue's Test captain in early 2022 following Virat Kohli's highly successful time at the helm. He guided India for nearly four years before stepping down in May 2025 after he announced his retirement from the five-day format. Stokes, on the other hand, succeeded Joe Root as England's Test captain in the same year as his Indian counterpart, before leaving the role behind at the end of the series against New Zealand, which his side lost 2-1.

In many ways, Stokes and Rohit have contrasting styles of leading their respective sides in Test cricket. Both had massive highs but equally sad lows during their tenure. Which begs a question: who was the better leader between the two giants of Test matches?

Ben Stokes vs Rohit Sharma: Test Captaincy Stats:

Ben Stokes vs Rohit Sharma: Leadership Styles:

Both Stokes and Rohit had their differences in captaining in Test match cricket. Stokes was more of a man manager on the field, giving his players full autonomy and freedom to express themselves out in the middle. Taking a more aggressive approach, particularly with the bat, England scored at a high run-rate, with the likes of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook making the most of the freedom given to them to take batting to new heights. The all-rounder completely removed the fear of failure from his side and played fearlessly by taking bold declaration calls and setting aggressive fields. 

Rohit, on the other hand, had a lot calmer style of captaining in Test cricket. He intended to lead from the front with the bat, giving the rest of the batters a platform to build the innings on. The right-handed batter was a lot more player-friendly and a motivator in nature. Under his leadership, a host of young players came in and flourished in the format, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, amongst others. Rohit, however, was comparatively less proactive than his predecessor, Kohli, in his approach to Test cricket, which eventually led to his downfall. 

Ben Stokes vs Rohit Sharma: Key Achievements as Test Captains:

Ben Stokes:

• Under Stokes' leadership, England won their first Test series in Pakistan in 20 years when his side won 3-0 in 2022. 
• During the early stages of the 'Bazball' era, England defeated India at Edgbaston in 2022 after chasing 378 in the fourth innings with seven wickets in hand.
• England won their first series in New Zealand after 16 years during their tour to Oceania in 2024.
• Stokes famously guided England to a Test victory in Hyderabad in 2024 despite his side trailing by 190 runs after two innings.
• In his first Ashes series in 2023, England came back from 2-0 down to level 2-2 after winning the last Test at the Oval.

Rohit Sharma: 

• Rohit guided India to a 2-1 series win on home soil against Australia, thus retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
• India thrashed England 4-1 in 2024 at home, making a dramatic comeback after losing the first Test match.
• Rohit took India to a series win away against the West Indies in 2023, hence continuing their domination in the Caribbean.
• The experienced batter also took India to the final of the 2023 World Test Championship, losing to Australia in the final at the Oval. 

Conclusion:

It is safe to say that Stokes has had a better tenure as Test captain compared to Rohit in almost the same period of time. Though both captains had underwhelming away records against bigger Test-playing nations, the former England captain takes the honour due to having a superior record on home soil. India were whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 in 2024, which was the start of the end of Rohit's time as Test leader.