Top 10 Successful Cricket Captains Of All Time In The World

The captain plays the most important role in a cricket match. The captain decides who is going to bat next after the opponent takes a wicket, decides who will deliver the next over, sets the field, and decides what to do after winning the toss.

Not only that, the captain leads his team from the front. He cheers his team up at the crucial moments and rules the match along with his fellow teammates.

But not all captains are worthy enough to lead their teams to win.

But there are few captains who have become legends through their magnificent captaincy in their cricket careers.

And today, I am going to tell you about the top 10 best cricket captains in the world.

So, let’s start!

1. MS Dhoni: India

MS Dhoni – India

Whenever Indians will talk about winning the World Cup, MS Dhoni’s name will be uttered. He is the captain who has won all major ICC trophies.

About The Captain

Dhoni became the captain in the year 2007, and that very year he won the T20 World Cup. Later he won ODI World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy too.

Dhoni was famous for his cool temperament and ability to read the game. And finishing off the match with a sixer had become his trademark.
Dhoni gave India the World Cup by beating Sri Lanka in the year 2011.

Every Indian still remembers the last six of Dhoni in the final match. It was his trademark helicopter shot. No wonder Dhoni is no. 1 on our list.

2. Virat Kohli: India

Virat Kohli – India

The sensational batsman of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, is no. 2 on our list. Virat was a member of the 2011’s World Cup-winning Indian team, and later he took himself to the highest level of cricket.

About The Captain

Virat took the captaincy when MS Dhoni declared his retirement. And after Sourav, Virat was the captain who won back-to-back test series and ODI series outside India. As a captain, if you see the statistics, then you will find Virat is the most successful captain of India.

He has an envious percentage of winning matches in both Test and ODIs. Later he passed the baton of captaincy to Rohit Sharma.

3. Clive Lloyd: West Indies

Clive Lloyd – West Indies

During the golden era of West Indies cricket, Clive Lloyd was the skipper of the team. His fellow teammates were equally famous as him. Some of them are Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards, Gary Sobers, and Michael Holding.

About The Captain

During his childhood, Lloyd used to have a vision problem. Doctors said that he might become blind. But he survived the disease and became the first cricketer who wore glasses.

And he brought Caribbean cricket to the highest level. He won the first 2 World Cups in the year 1975 and 1979.

In 1983 too he reached the final match where he lost to Kapil dev’s India. But there is no doubt that Lloyd comes in the list of the world’s best cricket captains.

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5. Sourav Ganguly: India

Sourav Ganguly – India

Indian cricket was in deep darkness back in 2000. Match fixing has destroyed the entire faith of the nation in Indian cricketers. And during that darkest time, a man took over the responsibility to pull cricket out of the darkness. He was the Prince of Calcutta, Sourav Ganguly.

About The Captain

Sourav was the captain of the Indian team from 2001 to 2005. During this period, he made India the champion in the Nat-West trophy and runner-up in the 2003 World Cup.

But he was the captain who love to play the game with utmost aggressiveness. Despite Sachin Tendulkar being there in the team, he was the backbone of the team.

Sourav showed the world that India can win matches and series even outside India. He was the symbol of aggressiveness in the Indian team.

And he knew how to fight for his teammates and how to back them. No wonder Sourav Ganguly will always remain one of the most successful captains of the world.

6. Arjuna Ranatunga: Sri Lanka

Arjuna Ranatunga – Sri Lanka

The man who united such a team was suffering from a lot of trouble those days. That was a black time for Sri Lankan cricket, but this man had the courage to dream big. His name is Arjuna Ranatunga he took his team from the far bottom to the throne.

About The Captain

Arjuna Ranatunga was the man who surprised everyone in the 1996 World Cup. Before he took the charge, the Sri Lankan Cricket team used to be counted among the weakest teams in the world.

And no one even thought that Sri Lanka can even reach the quarter-finals.

But Ranatunga’s team amazed everybody by playing some magnificent cricket. The players like Sanath Jayasurya, Arvind D’Silva, Chaminda Vass, Muralidharan, and Atapattu, the whole team was playing as one back in the 1996 World Cup.

They kept surprising cricket lovers and finally beat India in the semi-final and Australia in the final match.

When Ranatunga lifted the trophy, the rest of the world knew that a new lion in the world of cricket was born.

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7. Steve Waugh: Australia

Steve Waugh – Australia

If you have not won any world cup, then you do not have a Steve Waugh on your side. Yes, this was Steve Waugh. Steve Waugh was a right-handed batsman who gave the World Cup to his country after 12 years.

About The Captain

In the year 1999, two teams were considered the favorite in the World Cup tournament. One is Hansie Cronje’s South Africa, and another is Wasim Akram’s Pakistan. Even people started saying that these two teams are going to play in the finals.

But even in that crucial time, Steve Waugh targeted to win the trophy.
Steve Waugh led his team like a true captain and brought Australia to the semi-finals.

Then he battled against Hansie Cronje’s South Africa. People thought that Cronje’s team would blow Australia up out of the tournament, but people forgot that Steve has got nerves of steel.

Once while batting, Steve took a shot, which became an easy catch to Gibbs. But out of excitement, Gibbs dropped the catch.

Then Waugh said something to Gibbs which became history. He said, “You did not just drop the catch, you dropped the World Cup”.

And then everybody saw how to battle in the World Cup semi-finals. Lance Klusener gave the last fight for his team, but that was not enough.

Australia reached the final, and Waugh just blew up Pakistan and lifted the trophy.

That World Cup was a fairy tale for Australian cricket after the loss in the 1996 World Cup final against Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lanka.

8. Ricky Ponting: Australia

Ricky Ponting – Australia

Ricky Ponting was the skipper of Australia from 2002 to 2011 in ODI matches and from 2004 to 2011 in Test cricket. He is the second captain in the world who has won two world cups in his captaincy. He was a legendary batsman of Australia and has many records both as a player and as a captain.

About The Captain

After Steve Waugh left the captaincy, Ricky Ponting took over. And he continued the legacy of Australian cricket to the peak. During his captaincy, the Australian Cricket Team ruled the world of cricket and had set such a margin that one can hardly cross.

During his time, if one team could beat Australia, they use to celebrate like World Cup Champions.

After Steve Waugh’s legendary World Cup win in 1999, Ponting took his team to the final again, and he just smashed Sourav Ganguly’s India. They set a target of 360 runs, achieving which was next to impossible in those days.

And he did not stop there only. He came back as the captain of the Australian team again in 2007, and again he won the trophy.

It was like, ICC was arranging the World Cup Championship for Ponting to lift the trophy.

And in both tournaments, Ponting did not lose even a single match! That was a golden era of Australian cricket.

Ponting has an envious winning percentage of 76.14 in ODIs. He played 230 ODI matches as captain, among which he won 165.

He will always be remembered as an aggressive captain who gave everything to his team.

9. Kapil Dev: India

Kapil Dev – India

Kapil Dev is the captain who gave India the taste of winning the world cup for the first time. He was among the best all-rounders in the gentleman’s game and is considered one of the first legends of Indian Cricket.

About The Captain

There was a time when Indian cricket was not popular even in India. There was a time when cricket was ruled by England, Australia, and West Indies.

There was a time when India was just another team in the world of cricket.

And even in that time, one man believed that they have come to England to win the trophy, and not for a family tour.

The whole world laughed at him, but he was a magician. He had got 10 men in his team, and he played just like a boss.

He cheered his team up with his super-sensational 175 runs against Zimbabwe, and that motivated the team so much that everyone got charged up, won matches one by one, and entered the final.

In the final, the man played just like what a captain needs to play, and when he took the catch of the scary Viv Richards and made him go back to the pavilions, the whole of India roared like a lion.

And when Mohinder Amarnath took Michael Holding’s wicket, the world saw a new champion in the history of World Cup Cricket.

Yes, he made cricket popular in India. He was the captain whom India needed. He was Kapil Dev.

10. Imran Khan: Pakistan

Imran Khan - Pakistan

Imran Khan was the skipper of the Pakistan cricket team and is the only Pakistani captain who has won the ODI World Cup. He was a fast bowler and effective with the bat in hand too. He comes in the all-time great all-rounders’ list of the world.

About The Captain

The former skipper of the Pakistan team, who is now the former Prime Minister of Pakistan too, won the ODI World Cup in the year 1992.

No one believed that the Pakistan team could win the trophy, except one man.

And he is none other than Imran Khan himself. And he was such a brilliant captain that he could spread the belief in his teammates too.

Imran was a brilliant personality off the field too. And on the field, he was a leader who loved to lead from the front.

He was such dedicated to cricket that when Pakistan lost the semi-finals in the 1987 World Cup, he announced his retirement.

But the whole of Pakistan wanted him to come back, so he came back the next year.

Imran was the man who gave such beautiful cricketers as Wasim Akram, Waqar Yunis, and Inzamam-Ul-Haq. He took Pakistan to the finals in the 1992 World Cup and beat England by 22 runs.

frequently asked questions

1. Who is the best captain in world cricket?

It is hard to point out one name as the best captain in world cricket. There are many captains who enriched their teams at different times, and they all are equally great. So you see, you cannot just pick up one name among all the great captains.

To Finish It Off

Here I have talked about the top 10 best cricket captains in the world. I hope this article will fulfill your curiosity about the best cricket captains in the world. All the best.

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