We all saw the role of a leader during Chappel-Hadlee trophy. I am pretty sure if Australia was lead by Ponting, with same scores, and bowling attack, it was very likely that he could have defended these big totals.
Now it will make us think of weakest links among different teams for WC 2007, and very quickly three teams will come to mind:
PAK
ENG
WI
Worst leader will be for Eng if Vaughn is not fit, since as soon as Freddie take our, we hear from Strauss that he would love to be captain, which mean not every one is 100% behind Freddie, plus some of Freddie decisions are not very smart, but he tries to compensate by putting 200% of his own efforts, as bowler and batsman.
Second will be Inzi, with his dictator approach, and especially if his bowling is weak then he can’t lead from front when his side is on field. Pakistan success came mostly due to his batting while he was a captain, but his batting form is below par, and as a fielding captain one can expect the least from him.
Third in this list is Lara, he got respect from the world, but as a leader he still needs to prove himself. So these are three talented teams with weakest captains to lead them for WC2007.
Lets hope for mericals.