While some captains have won the world cup, others have missed it. As the world waits for cricket upcoming ICC world cup, let us remember some of the previous great captains:
- Rickey Ponting
Rickey Ponting is one of the only two captains to have won the ODI world cup side and one of the few players who was a part of the winning side three times. Ponting was a part of the 1999 winning Australian squad and then captained the team to win the trophy in 2003 and 2007 – not losing a single contest during those two editions. The winning streak of 27 teams started in 1999 before his captaincy would continue to 2011, his last world cup, when he took the team to the quarter-final.
Ponting is also the second most successful batsman in world cup tournaments scoring 1743 runs in 46 (behind only the great Sachin Tendulkar). Ponting is also the fielder (not including wicketkeepers) with the most catches in the tournament. He was selected the man of the match in the final of the 2003 world cup after scoring a hundred against India. Along with Sachin, he has the highest number of hundreds in the tournament (6).
- Clive Lloyd
The only other captain to win two world cups is Clive Lloyd, who led the great West Indian side in the first two world cup editions and won them both. Lloyd was the man of the match in the final of the inaugural World Cup when he scored a hundred after West Indies struggled with three wickets have already fallen for just fifty runs – a hundred of just 85 deliveries (his only ODI hundred). Llyod would also be the first West Indian to take a wicket on the very first ball.
- Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev would be remembered as the man who ended the domination of the West Indies. One of the greatest all-rounders to ever grace the game, Kapil Dev scored his only ODI hundred of 175, too, in that tournament. Batting at number six, Dev would step out after India had lost four wickets for just nine runs, only to see the score turn to five wickets for 17 runs. He then went on to score 175 of 138 deliveries – the highest score at the time. He partnered with Kirmani for 126 runs (Kirmani only contributed 24 runs out of 56 deliveries) for a month wicket, a record that would remain unbeaten for 27 years. He also captained India to the semi-final in 1987.
The victory was made even more special as India was defending a small target of a mere 184 and managed to save it against a team that had legends like Vivin Richards in it.
- MS Dhoni
If Kapil Dev broke West Indian steak, another Indian, Dhoni, broke the Australian streak of victories. Adoringly nicknamed Mahi, Dhoni is the most successful captain of the Indian squad, winning both the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the inaugural T29 World Cup in 2007. He was also the man of the match in the final of the 2011 World Cup. In the next edition in 2015, he took the team to the semi-finals.
The only wicketkeeper captain in this list, Dhoni was also one of the most valuable batsmen for the team in the four tournaments he played, scoring 780 runs in 29 matches at an average of 43.33 between 2007 and 2019. The victory of Dhoni’s side was also remarkable because India had performed terribly in the previous world cup.
- Arjun Ranatunga
Sri Lanka won the world cup only once, and that was in 1996 under the captaincy of Arjun Ranatunga, who scored 241 runs in the tournament with the highest average (of over 120) and also the highest strike rate for a player with more than a hundred runs (114.76 percent). Ranatunga has also contributed 969 runs with the bat in 30 matches at an impressive average of over 46.
- Imran Khan
The last Prime Minister of Pakistan was also the captain when the national team won the world cup in 1992. He also led the team to the semi-finals twice before – in 1983 and 1987. Khan is also one of the best all-rounders to grace the game, with 666 runs and 34 wickets in 28 matches between 1975 and 1992.
- Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh was the captain who won the world cup in 1999, starting Australia on a metric of victories. He was also the leading scorer for Australia in the tournament with 398 runs, behind only the Great Wall of India, Rahul Dravid, who scored 461 runs in the tournament. Steve Waugh was also responsible for building the team that would continue to win tournaments even after he would be out of the scene.
- Sourabh Ganguly
Though unable to win the cup, Ganguly has won a spot on this list for having taken his side to the finals of the 2003 world cup tournament. He was also the second-highest scorer in that edition with 465 runs in only eleven innings with three hundred.
- Mahela Jayawardane
Jayawardane is another captain who is worth mentioning, even though he never won the trophy. He is the only player to score a century in both a final (2011) and semi-final (2007). He was captain of the Sri Lankan side in both these editions, and the team ended up runner-up in both versions. Overall he scored four hundred and five fifties for the side in 40 world cup matches he played for the side between 1999 and 2015.
- Kane Williamson
Though he hasn’t won the world cup, Kane Williamson has won an entry here by leading his side to the finals in the 2019 edition. He also scored 572 runs in that edition with two hundred and two fifties and won man of the tournament.
Some other notable captains
The following are some other captains worth mentioning:
- Micheal Clarke -Clarke won the world cup for Australia in 2015.
- Alan Border – he won the world cup for Australia in 2019.
- Eoin Morgan – he led England to its only world cup victory in 2019.
- Steve Tikolo – he led Kenya to the semi-finals in the 2003 world cup.
The bottom line
It is remarkable that some of the best captains didn’t win the trophy but proved their excellence anyway. We shall love to add Rohit Sharma to this list if he leads the team to victory in India upcoming matches in the 2023 edition.
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