5 non-Britain born England ODI captains

After having waited for 44 years and endured the agony through eleven editions of the World Cup, England can finally breathe a sigh of relief as Eoin Morgan and his men emphatically lifted the silverware for the first-ever time in the history of the World Cup.

England featured in the first ODI ever to be played in 1971 but the purists that they have traditionally been, the limited overs format was always given far lesser importance than the original format of the sport.

A country that has always welcomed players and professionals from diverse countries, England have been fortunate to have availed services of some of the finest cricketers ever produced who were not born on British soil. The Man of the Final, Ben Stokes, went on to bring glory to England against his own country of birth, New Zealand.

Among the various non-British born players who went on to represent England, there have been five who have also earned the honor of leading the England team. Here is a look at all of these five players, who have led England.

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#5 Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan

Of all the foreign cricketers to have represented England, there cannot be more adulation for anyone other than Irishman Eoin Morgan, who led the Three Lions to a famous victory, perhaps their greatest in limited overs, on 14th July as part of the 2019 World Cup.

After England's exit from the World Cup in 2015 is when people in charge of running English cricket sat down and anatomized the state of affairs. Andrew Strauss, the then Director of the England & Wales Cricket Board, in partnership with skipper Morgan, decided the approach England were to have towards the game in the future and the results are there to be seen.

After dominating every team across the interim four year period between the World Cups, their moment of glory of lifting the biggest prize in the sport at the Home of Cricket can only be summarized as a script- the author of which has been Morgan.

In the 111 matches that he has now led the English side in, he enjoys a whopping win percentage of 65.71. This stat makes him the most experienced England captain and only second behind Mike Gatting's success rate of 70.27.

Born in Dublin, the crafty left-handed batsman impressed in his 23 ODI appearances for Ireland and was picked up by England in 2009, post which he has risen through the ranks not just to go on to lead the side but also become their highest run getter in the ODI format.

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#4 Kevin Pietersen

KP's flamboyance and aggression was unparalelled

The flamboyant Kevin Pietersen left his homeland of South Africa after ending up on the wrong side of the racial quota system prevalent in the selection policy of the Rainbow Nation. Born to an English mother in Pietermaritzburg, the tall right-handed batsman stormed his way into the English side and dominated bowling attacks across the world.

An aggressive batsman by nature, Pietersen was a success across formats and played a major role in many famous English wins. His performance enabled him to win the confidence of the management as he was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the ODI side in 2008.

However, the enigma around his batting went hand in hand with his involvement in controversies off the field. Just after 12 matches as skipper of the team, four of which they won, Pietersen found himself in the middle of a rift with coach Peter Moores that culminated with the sacking of the coach and KP's resignation as the captain of the team.

#3 Andrew Strauss

Strauss has been the man behind England's transition into a dominant force

If Eoin Morgan was the man who made things possible on the field for English cricket's revival and dominance, then Johannesburg born Andrew Strauss was the man who ran the show behind the curtains and provided Morgan with the requisite support.

Taking charge of ECB as it's Director post the debacle of 2015, Strauss ensured that English cricket embarked on a defined roadmap to scale new heights and redefine the way the sport was played.

In his own days on the field, Strauss was a craftsman of his trade as he was a sublime opener who contributed heavily to English cricket. Under his captaincy, which was a result of the unanticipated Pietersen saga, England played 62 games, winning 27 and losing 33.

He was the captain in England's 2011 World Cup campaign, one that saw the team producing tumultuous results as they beat tournament favorites South Africa in a low scoring thriller, tied with eventual champions India in a humdinger, and lost to then minnows Ireland and Bangladesh, resulting in an unsuccessful campaign.

#2 Nasser Hussain

Hussain was a technician when it came to the art of batting

Nasser Hussain is a common face on television as he is a famous broadcaster before which he was also one of the finest English batsman across a career that spanned between 1990 and 2004.

Hussain was born to an Indian father and English other in Madras (now Chennai) in India and at an early stage in his life is when his family moved to England. After performing well across all levels of age cricket, Hussain grabbed his chance of representing England at the highest level.

A technically sound batsman, he went on to play 96 Tests and 88 ODIs and was the skipper for a majority of them as he led in 45 Tests and 56 ODIs. He also enjoyed decent success as the team won 28 and lost 27 matches under him. His stint as the leader ended with England's exit from the 2003 World Cup where they could not make it past the group stage.

#1 Adam Hollioake

Hollioake was a talented cricketer but an even more successful leader

Lesser-known English cricketer Adam Hollioake was born in Melbourne, Australia before moving to England where he was played for Surrey in county cricket. A cricketer with a decent ability with both bat and ball, Hollioake seemed to be natural leader- something endorsed by his nine trophies in first class cricket.

His success as a leader is what saw him dethrone Mike Atherton as England's ODI skipper in 1997 and he also produced immedaite results as England won the Sharjah Cup under him.

However, a sustained period of injuries followed by loss of form coupled with his lack of ability to specialize in one department of the game saw his downfall, leading the reigns of captaincy to fall into the hands of Hussain. In his brief period as skipper, England won six and lost eight of their 14 matches.