It is said that great cricket teams are made by a great captain.
As World Cup 2023 is going on, let’s have a look at the best cricket captains in World Cup history so far:
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting is the best cricket captain in the world, the Australian cricket team enjoyed a golden period and earned the tag of being Invincible in both formats under his captaincy. Only one skipper, none other than Ponting, has won more than three ICC trophies. ICC World Cup 2003, ICC World Cup 2007, ICC Champions Trophy 2006, and ICC Champions Trophy 2009 were the four ICC trophies that the Ricky Ponting won.
Ricky Ponting holds the record for the most victories as captain in the cricket sport’s history (220). Despite the fact that there are now a lot more games, no skipper has achieved what Ponting did, which was to lead his team to 220 victories total.
In 2004, Ponting took over as the Australian team’s captain, and he soon made a name for himself as one of the game’s most successful captains. Additionally, he holds the record for the most victories in World Cup games.
Imran Khan
Imran Khan was a charismatic skipper who led by example on the field. He possessed a tremendous cricket brain as well as the priceless ability to bring out the best in others. Pakistan was notoriously tough to defeat both at home and overseas under Imran. He was the one who changed a collection of talented but erratic cricketers into a powerful international force that was occasionally able to compete with the mighty West Indies team of the 1980s.
His greatest achievement was unquestionably leading Pakistan to their first World Cup victory in 1992. He led the team in scoring with 72 against England in the 1992 world cup final match, having famously pleaded with his team early in the tournament when their hopes were hanging by a thread to fight “like cornered tigers”.
Eoin Morgan
England made history in 2019 when they won the ODI World Cup for the first time under Eoin Morgan’s leadership and “play fire with fire” strategy, ending a 44-year wait for the nation that created this lovely game of cricket. Eoin Morgan will always be remembered for leading England to win their first ODI World Cup trophy at Lords in July 2019 against New Zealand.
Not only should he be remembered as England’s best skipper ever for the records and trophies he won, but also for the way he transformed the one-day cricket culture while leading the team. Morgan was allowed complete freedom to change the mentality of the new England one-day team. There was freedom to articulate oneself, take chances, and show strength rather than fear.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not only regarded as India’s best captain ever but also one of the best cricket captain in the world in ODIs. Given the type of accomplishments he has made in his whole career, any skipper would adore to have MS Dhoni’s captaincy records to his name.
Dhoni has captained Indian team in 331 matches total which is the highest by any captain across all the formats of cricket (60 Tests, 199 ODIs and 72 T20Is).
He is the only captain in the history of cricket to have won all the three ICC ODIs tournaments. In 2007, he won the T20 World Cup by 5 runs defeating Pakistan. In 2011, he won the 50-overs World Cup defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. In 2013, he won the Champions Trophy defeating England by 5 runs.
Dhoni is also well known as one of the best finisher in the world and the best wicketkeeper in the world, though his significance as an Indian cricketer goes beyond his career numbers.
Graeme Smith
He has captained his national team in Test matches more than anyone else in the world. He was an outstanding batter in his own right but captaincy responsibilities at a young age made sure that Graeme Smith will forever remain as the Godfather of Southafrican captains. So successful and charismatic was his leadership that even at the fag end of his career there was not a single person who questioned Smith’s captaincy and he retired quite fittingly as a captain only. During his tenure as captain, South Africa became the No. 1 Test team in the world and started winning all over the globe. It was during his tenure that South Africa chased the highest total ever and Smith leading from the front scored majestic quickfire 90 in that match. He captained in 150 ODIs and won 92 of them. Smith is a legend and he will forever be remembered as a leader in world cricket as a man who took his country to the pinnacle of success.
