Pat Cummins Breaks Richie Benaud’s Long-Standing 63-Year-Old Record As Test Captain During WI vs AUS 1st Test

Australia's Pat Cummins surpasses Richie Benaud to become the Test captain with the most wickets in Australian cricket history, claiming his 139th scalp during the 1st Test vs West Indies.

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Australia skipper Pat Cummins has made history by surpassing Richie Benaud’s long-standing record for the most Test wickets by an Australian captain. During the first Test against the West Indies, Cummins dismissed Keacy Carty on Day 1, leveling Benaud's tally of 138 wickets, before overtaking it with the wicket of Brandon King on Day 2, despite controversy surrounding the decision. 

Most wickets for the Australia Test captain:

1 - Pat Cummins: 139 wickets

2 - Richie Benaud: 138 wickets

3 - Bob Simpson: 41 wickets

4 - Ian Johnson: 39 wickets

5 - Monty Noble: 31 wickets

Pat Cummins As Skipper

Cummins has led Australia by example in the last few years with two ICC titles under his belt. Apart from the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship Match in 2023, Cummins has also been in charge of Australia's Ashes retention and the Border-Gavaskar series win at home.

Why This Matters

Benaud’s record had stood since the early 1960s, cementing him as one of Australia’s greatest all-round leaders. Now, Cummins has eclipsed this feat, underscoring both his leadership and bowling excellence across varied conditions and formats.

What Comes Next

Pat Cummins isn’t just breaking records, he’s rewriting captaincy standards for fast bowlers. With a growing haul, it’ll be fascinating to see how far he can extend this tally, especially with Australia touring challenging venues like South Africa and India ahead.

Meanwhile, Cummins is now the second-highest wicket-taking captain in Test cricket. He has 139 scalps to his name as skipper and is only behind Imran Khan, who had taken 187 wickets as captain.