Top 10 World Cup captains of all time

Many came, some saw and a few conquered. The Cricket World Cup’s chequered history will never be complete without a mention of the great leaders who took the field and led their troops with aplomb. These leaders led from the front, galvanised misfiring individuals into cohesive forces, and mesmerised the world with breathtaking individual performances. But most importantly, some of these, cricket’s finest, left an indelible imprint on the game’s marquee event with tactical nuance that made people go, oh captain, my captain.

#10 MS Dhoni (India)

MS Dhoni had showed signs of arguably being one of India’s greatest captains. He won the World T20, one month into the job, beat Australia in their backyard, took India to the pinnacle of Test cricket and amazed all with his non-conventional approach to captaincy. So when the World Cup came calling, and that too, in the subcontinent, it was almost expected that Captain Cool would spin magic once again. Subcontinental conditions & limited overs equated to Dhoni’s bread and butter.

At Dhoni’s disposal was one of the most lethal line-ups to play in Indian conditions. Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir at the top. Followed by Yuvraj and Raina. The masterful deceit of Zaheer Khan and the clever guile of Harbhajan, all made for terrific showing. The captain fulfilled his role to the T, he made the changes when necessary, snuffed out ties from losses, backed his players and played the role of the best possible support cast.

But cometh the hour, cometh the man.

On the night of 2nd April 2011, with Sri Lanka sensing a small chance to make inroads – Dhoni walked out to bat ahead of the Man of the Series Yuvraj Singh. It was a decision he took unilaterally and got approved by the coach. He wasn’t averaging very well in the tournament, so the move was fodder for the critics.

What we saw next was a counter attack of supreme nature. He never allowed the spinners to settle in, plucked out the odd boundary in between and kept on rotating the strike. At the score of 85, when he lofted one into the stands at long-on, India’s long-awaited dream of lifting the World Cup a second time was complete.

After 28 years, Dhoni’s Daredevils made it to the league of Kapil’s Devils.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl.Average
‘11 (W)	9	77.77	241	48.20	0x100/1x50	-	-	-

#9 Sourav Ganguly (India)

108, 219, 108, 122, 169, 200 and 122. These were team totals posted by India during the ODI series in New Zealand that just preceded the World Cup in South Africa.

Apart from losing the one-day leg 5-2, Sourav Ganguly’s Men in Blue were trounced 2-0 in the Tests. The captain and the coach’s futures looked bleak. There were huge question marks over the team’s ability to represent India in the tournament that followed.

And the first two games at the World Cup turned out to be no different. India bundled out for 204 against minnows Holland and struggled to a 68-run win. In the following game, they lost to Australia by nine wickets, without even putting up a semblance of a fight. The signs were ominous. Back home, effigies were being burnt, cricket pundits called for the team to be sent back home. But what followed was a juggernaut.

Under the motivational leadership of Ganguly, Team India spurred towards the final, winning the next 8 games on the trot. It was a record streak, and anyone who stood up against the Blue Brigade were steamrolled. England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand – none stood a chance. The captain blew away Kenya in the semi-finals to secure a summit clash for his team against Ponting’s Australia, the only team they hadn’t beaten in the tournament.

What happened in the final was a different story. It was like heartbreak after 20 years. One of India’s best one-day lineups came very close to winning a World Cup in challenging conditions, but failed at the finish line. For inspiring and standing behind a demoralized team, and for showing the way with the bat, Ganguly’s World Cup campaign will always be remembered.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
‘03 (RU)	11	81.81	465	58.12	3x100/0x50	3	-	29.33

#8 Martin Crowe (New Zealand)

When the opening contest between the two hosts took place in 1992, it was meant to be cakewalk for the Australians. No one expected the Australians to lose, till a certain Martin Crowe showed up.

Coming into bat at 13/2, Crowe exemplified leading by example, by first steadying the ship against a fast-bowling lineup that included Bruce Reid and Craig McDermot. Pulling and flicking off his pads regularly, Crowe batted right till the end of the innings, scoring an unbeaten hundred. In the process, taking New Zealand to a formidable 248.

Later in the game, he displayed stellar captaincy, opening the bowling with an off-spinner and not allowing the Australian batsmen to settle with constant bowling and fielding changes. New Zealand won by 37 runs and their captain helped in setting the tone of the tournament.

Crowe went onto have a remarkable tournament, ending as its highest run scorer. He followed up his century with half-centuries against Zimbabwe, West Indies and England. Just when New Zealand looked like reaching their first World Cup final, an Inzamam Ul-Haq whirlwind stopped them short. But Martin Crowe’s Kiwis had won many hearts by then.

With an incredible average of 114, and the display of exceptional leadership, Martin Crowe earned his place amongst the best captains in World Cup cricket.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
‘92 (SF)	9	77.77	456	114.00	1x100/4x50	-	-	-

#7 Allan Border (Australia)

1987 was the last World Cup to be played in white clothing. It was the first World Cup to be played in the subcontinent. And it was also the World Cup in which two non-Asian countries, susceptible to spinning wickets, humbled the Asian giants.

At the forefront, was an Australian team, ably led by Allan Border. A team that took the world by storm and began an era of world dominance. Although the runs didn’t come as expected from Border’s blade, his captaincy helped Australia top their group. In the semi-finals at Lahore, fired up by Zaheer Abbas calling them a bunch of club cricketers, Border’s men landed a knock-out blow to the Pakistan, with the top honours going to Craig McDermott.

At the vociferous Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Australia felt more at home, with a 100,000 strong crowd backing them to win. What was incredible though was the wicket of Mike Gatting, the fifth highest run-getter in that edition. Border, who seldom bowls, came out knowing that Gatting would try and attack him. A failed reverse sweep later, Australia had seen the back of one of the batsmen who could spoil Australia’s party.

Although Border went on to captain Australia at home, in the 1992 edition with little success, he will be best remembered for changing the way Australia played limited overs cricket.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
’87 (W) & ’92 (5th Pos)	16	68.75	243	16.20	0x100/1x50	7	-	31.28

#6 Ricky Ponting (Australia)

He might’ve been brash and reckless when he first burst onto the scene, but history will remember Ricky Ponting as World Cup’s most successful captain.

Popular belief says that when you have a team comprising of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee – very little can go wrong. But having a firepower team at your disposal is one thing and extracting the best out of one is another. And it’s the latter that Ponting did very well throughout his World Cup captaincy.

Starting in 2003 and right through the 2007 edition, Ponting led the Australians to a record winning streak in the World Cup competition. His bat too, did the talking as he notched up four hundreds and five hundreds. Hundreds against India in the ‘03 final and ‘11 quarter-finals being the brightest spots.

Ponting did what no other Australian captain could. He won two World Cups on the trot and bowed out of the third in the quarter-finals losing to a more superior side playing in their backyard.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
’03 (W), ’07 (W) & ’11 (QF)	29	89.65	1160	52.72	4x100/5x50	-	-	-

#5 Steve Waugh (Australia)

“‘You just dropped the World Cup”

Surely Steve Waugh had done a lot more in the ‘99 World Cup than quipping a single quote, that he is so popularly remembered for, even today. Despite Waugh and Gibbs (who dropped the catch) not remembering clearly what was exchanged, the crowd at Headingley remembers Waugh’s 120 not out against the Proteas, in the Super Six stage of the competition.

It was a must-win encounter and in later days, that victory allowed Australia to edge out South Africa in a tied semi-final and gave them a place in the finals at Lord’s. The final was a one-sided affair, with Australia steamrolling an over enthusiastic Pakistan team.

Steve Waugh oversaw Australia’s second World Cup title. He was also the second highest run-getter in the tournament, falling a shy short of 400. Starting that day, Australia won every game that they played in a World Cup, for about 12 years, till that streak ended in 2011.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
‘99 (W)	10	70	398	79.60	1x100/2x50	3	-	30.66

#4 Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka)

The popular opinion floating around in 1996 was that the Sri Lankans would be easy meat during the World Cup. The world saw them nothing more than minnows. So what they had some of the finest batsmen and bowlers and a visionary captain, they weren’t going to be given a chance.

South Africans were the favourites after the group stages. India, intimidating and Australia, tough to beat. But led by the portly Arjuna Ranatunga, the cricketers from the island nation sprung a surprise on one and all. They went on to top the group stage, often dominating teams with their batting firepower, thereby, revolutionizing the way one-day cricket would be played in the future.

While some say that forfeited matches all throughout the tournament helped Sri Lanka, one simply cannot deny the fact that they won when they were required to. After all, had the game at the Eden Gardens continued, a Sri Lankan loss was improbable. And it was often that the captain’s confidence translated into his team’s performance.

18 years after lifting the trophy, Ranatunga admitted to how he got inspired by Kapil Dev’s India in 1983 and Imran Khan’s Pakistan in 1992. “If they could do it, why can’t we,” were the sentiments echoed.

Chasing down 240 in a World Cup final isn’t as easy as it looks, but a competent century by de Silva and some hard hitting by the captain saw the team through. Memorable, though, would be the mauling that was handed out to Shane Warne, by Ranatunga, during the chase.

Sri Lanka were granted Test status in 1981, and within 15 years, they were already world champions. The youngest Test team to win the coveted trophy. It was only possible because of the visionary at the helm of affairs.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
’96 (W) & ’99 (GS)	11	72.72	375	53.57	0x100/2x50	2	-	34

#3 Kapil Dev (India)

Just before the 1983 World Cup took place, not even the most imaginative Indian would have thought of a possible Indian win in the finals.

But the signs were always there. In a game at Manchester, India caused a major upset, beating the defending champions West Indies by 34 runs. At the helm, was the boy from Haryana, Kapil Dev.

Kapil, one of India’s best fast bowlers, took his team past the group stages for the first time. And in the process, got the better of Zimbabwe twice and Australia once. But what defined the tournament was a once in a lifetime innings from the Indian captain.

In a match (seen as the virtual quarter-final) that saw no coverage due to a broadcasters’ strike, Kapil, after coming out to bat at 17/5, blasted his way to 175 not out off 138 balls. With 16 fours and 6 sixes and a strike rate that could put any modern T20 player to shame, Kapil single-handedly resurrected his team’s innings. He put in a tidy spell with the ball and ensured an almost improbable Indian victory.

In the finals, Kapil Dev will be best remembered for his running backward catch to dismiss a dangerous looking Viv Richards, and some inspiring bowling changes that broke the backbone of the West Indian batting.

He was India’s first small town cricketing hero and the first embodiment of self-belief.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Avg
’83 (W) & ’87 (SF)	15	73.33	455	56.87	1x100/1x50	17	1	29.64

#2 Clive Lloyd (West Indies)

The “Big Cat” had captained West Indies in only two one-day internationals before the first World Cup took place in June 1975. At his disposal, was a rapidly improving fast bowling unit and a batting line-up to reckon with. With this potent force, he went on to stamp his authority on world cricket and lay the foundation stone of West Indies’ domination in the subsequent decades.

On June 21st, 1975 at Lord’s, captain Lloyd crunched twelve fours and two sixes, on his way to an imposing 102. The captain’s knock knocked out a formidable Australian unit on the day of the final, and put Calypso cricket at the pinnacle of world cricket.

Four years later, immediately after Kerry Packer had taken the sport by storm, Llyod led his team to a second consecutive World Cup, beating hosts England at the Mecca of Cricket. Lloyd’s tactical acumen was ably supported by the destructive force of Viv Richards. In 1983, however, Llyod fell agonizingly short of becoming the first and the only captain in cricketing history to have a hat-trick of World Cup wins under his belt.

Two titles. One runner-up spot. A winning percentage of 88. Clive Llyod figures amongst the best of the best.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win %	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl. Average
’75 (W), ’79 (W) & ’83 (RU)	17	88.23	393	43.66	1x100/2x50	3	-	41.66

#1 Imran Khan (Pakistan)

Imran Khan finally fulfilled his “obsession” to build a cancer hospital after his young Pakistani brigade were crowned world champions in a glittering ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1992. With an able lieutenant in the form of Javed Miandad and spirited youngsters like Inzamam Ul-Haq and Wasim Akram at his disposal, Khan taught his team to play like “cornered tigers”.

During a final in which he made the opposition captain nervous with his confidence & nerve, Khan walked out to bat at No. 3, negated the threat of Derek Pringle and showed his team the way with a breezy half-century. Thanks to the pressure of a stiff chase against Khan’s free spirited boys, the English crumbled, handing Pakistan their first World Cup after the twin semi-final appearances in ‘83 and ‘87 – both incidentally, under the leadership of Imran Khan.

If there’s anyone who could make a bunch of underachievers believe that they had it in them to become the best in the world, it was Imran Khan. With the bat or the ball, he was the epitome of leadership.

As Captain

World Cups	M	Win%	Runs	Average	100s/50s	Wickets	5WI	Bwl Average
‘83 (SF), ‘87 (SF) & ‘92 (W)	22	63.63	615	38.43	1x100/4x50	24	-	19.70