Five players who stood at short leg or silly point even after becoming captain

#5 Mahela Jayawardene

Jayawardene was not afraid of getting in the firing line

A turning pitch is a silly point fielder’s worst nightmare. Not only does he have to be on his toes all the time to take half-chances but also needs to anticipate how the next turning delivery by the bowler would be handled by the batsman.

Make that bowler Muttiah Muralitharan and you have a recipe for disaster. To that extent, former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene’s contribution in the field, especially while standing close-in to Muralitharan is incredibly underappreciated.

"The No. 1 thing when you're fielding there is not being afraid to get hit," Jayawardene once said talking about the close-in positions. “The guy who's not afraid of getting hit - the first thing will be that his weight and everything will be going forward, because a lot of the catches will come down at you. The guy who's a bit worried, the first reaction is always going to be to fall back or turn around. Then that limits you," Mahela elaborated.

While Jayawardene’s exploits in the slip cordon are remembered till today, his willingness to stand in close to the batsmen even after taking over as captain (in the absence of specialists) reiterates that he was a captain who led by example.