Top 5 ODI captains with the most wins

Cricket is a team sport, requiring all 11 players to contribute for a side to be successful.

However, the captain is the most important person in the dressing room, with every team's playing style often imitating their captain's nature.

One Day International cricket tests a captain's capabilities to the limits because he has to make decisions in a short amount of time, making bowling or fielding changes that will tilt the match in his team's favour in a split second.

In this list, we list the 5 players who have won the most ODI matches as captain of their respective sides. As expected, some of the best players of all time grace this list.

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#5 Stephen Fleming, New Zealand 1997-2007

Former New Zealand ODI Captain Stephen Fleming led the Black Caps in 218 ODIs out of which he won 98. Fleming was a purist of the game who displayed calm on the field of play and off it despite having very little to chose from in terms of talent at his disposal.

Fleming had an eventful entry as skipper as the selectors sidelined Lee Germon for the third Test against England in February 1997, thus making him the youngest Kiwi skipper at the age of 23. He led New Zealand in 3 World Cups and managed to progress to the semi-final stages on two occasions losing to Asian opposition in Pakistan in 1999 and Sri Lanka in 2007.

Fleming’s best knock as skipper was when he guided New Zealand to victory over South Africa with an undefeated 134 helping his side chase down a rain-adjusted target of 229 off 39 overs. He scored his runs off just 132 balls as the Kiwis cruised to a 9-wicket victory.

#4 Hansie Cronje, South Africa 1994-2000

Hansie Cronje captained South Africa in a record 53 Tests and 138 ODIs. Making his debut in the 1992 WC, Cronje was an excellent all-rounder. Cronje was appointed as the vice-captain to Kepler Wessels for the tour of Australia in 1994-95 even though he was the youngest in the squad. Injury to Wessels meant that Cronje took charge and he was appointed as the full-time skipper in 1994-95.

A composed captain on the field, Cronje rarely let his emotions get the better of him, which he so famously displayed when South Africa were knocked out of the 1999 WC. His record of 99 ODI wins makes him South Africa's most successful ODI captain.

#3 Allan Border, Australia 1985-1994

Grit and determination - Two words which aptly apply to Allan Border. Coming in at a time when Australia was the laughing stock of the cricketing world, Border left it as the envy of every other nation. A reluctant leader, Border turned Australia into the force that dominated the 90’s and 00’s. In ODIs, Captain Grumpy has led Australia in 178 ODIs with only Ricky Ponting having led in more matches. He won 107 of those matches.

He led Australia in two World Cups - in 1987 and 1992, winning the former. Border has a fairly decent win percentage of 58.73% in ODIs on foreign soil compared and a pretty impressive record as captain with 4439 runs at an average of 32.16.

#2 MS Dhoni, India 2007-2016

MS Dhoni is the only captain to win all three major ICC limited-over tournaments. Under the leadership of Dhoni, India won the 2007 World T20, the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

He led India in six finals of limited-over tournaments involving five or more teams and India won four of them, which is the joint most by any captain for a team in limited-over internationals.

Dhoni won 110 ODI matches as a captain and scored 6,633 runs as a captain in ODIs. He has an average of 53.92 in ODIs as a captain which is the second highest for any captain who has scored at least 1,000 runs in ODIs. Dhoni won 15 Man of the Match awards as captain of India and his batting average of 70.83 as captain in India’s ODI wins is the third highest for any captain who has scored a minimum 1,000 runs in winning causes in ODIs.

#1 Ricky Ponting, Australia 2002-2012

Ricky Ponting made his debut in 1995 and took over as the Australian ODI captain in 2002. He has been a part of three successful World Cup campaigns which also included a 34 match winning streak - a record. He captained Australia at 9 ICC tournaments- three World Cups, 4 Champions Trophies, and two World T20s.

Both of Ponting’s defeat in the World Cup as a captain came during the 2011 World Cup where Australia first lost to Pakistan, thus ending their 12-year winning streak at the tournament before being eliminated by India in the quarter-finals. Ponting was awarded the Man of the Match in his first World Cup final as captain.

He has led Australia in four editions of the Champions Trophy with Australia reaching the semi-finals in the first two tournaments and going on to win the next two. Overall, he has won a record 165 matches as captain.