Cricket is a team game and every team requires a leader who can lead from the front. Team games are played by a set of people, but they are a herd unless guided by the leader. A captain provides aegis to the team. Unlike other sport such as football, basketball or any other team sports, their coa
ch coins the strategy and captains are just for name sake. Whereas, in cricket, the captain takes all the major decision both inside as well outside the field. We often see less influential team upset powerful team in big ICC Cricket tournaments. Recently Bangladesh beats New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy is a brilliant example of outstanding leadership quality from its skipper. There is no denying, captain plays a vital role in pushing the team to play extra miles.
Here is the list of top ten most prominent cricket captains over the years:
#10 Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka)
One of the most influential cricketers of Sri Lankan team during 1989-1998. The man who lead his team to high in 1996 World Cup Championship. By far, he is considered to be the best captain of Sri Lanka cricket. He held the captain’s post for 193 games and won 89 of those, his span was around 11 years.
#9 Imran Khan (Pakistan)
Pakistan always remained an underdog team when it comes to international cricket. Despite having several great players the team could not develop a winning culture. In that era, more emphasis was on the individual performances rather on the team victory. The man who fixed all these issues and introduced a golden era in Pakistan cricket was Imran Khan, he took over the captaincy in the year 1992. The real highlight of his captaincy was winning the world cup in Australia in 1992 against all the odds.
#8 Michael Vaughan (England)
Michael Vaughan, one of the best player in England Test squad, stepped up for England captaincy after Nasser Hussain. The apex of his career was during 2005 Ashes series. He leads England to first Ashes victory since 1986-87. This was the time when he introduced several young players to England team. He holds the record for the most test as a captain for England. He is considered to be the most dynamic captain of England team ever.
#7 Stephen Fleming (New Zealand)
Stephen Fleming is one of the most stylish and capped captains of ODI cricket. His peculiar style of opening the innings for the team and leading from the front somehow represents his individuality. He led New Zealand to the 1999 World Cup semi-final and won the Champions Trophy in 2001.
#6 Saurav Ganguly (India)
The Prince of Calcutta, Saurav Ganguly (Dada), the most aggressive captain of India. Who can forget dada’s historical jersey wave off from the gallery of the home of cricket? Saurav Ganguly was known as the most successful captain of India. He taught his boys the tactics of winning overseas matches. He led his team to 14 finals though, winning only 2. He led team India to 2003 World Cup finale against Australia. Saurav Ganguly is famous for his charismatic commentary style.
#5 Graeme Smith (South Africa)
Graeme Smith took over the captaincy of South Africa at a very young age. He is the only player who leads his team to 100 test matches. He is the second best captain when we look into winning percentage. He led his team to rank one in both tests as well as ODI cricket and had won several series for the team subsequently.
#4 Steve Waugh (Australia)
Steve Waugh is one of the most successful captains and the man behind the building of ruthless Australian team after winning 1999 Word Cup. He was the best all-rounder that any team can imagine. He even played a major role in nurturing the talents of new players in his team. He is often referred to as ‘Mr. Cool’ by his teammates. He won several series for his team. During his captaincy, he set the record for 16 consecutive test wins.
#3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)
The man who led India to 2011 ICC World Cup Championship victory after 28 years. He won several matches for India and the only captain to win all three ICC limited-overs trophies (World Cup, Champions Trophy, and the World Twenty20). M.S Dhoni is known for his resilient temperament and unorthodox cricketing style. His “Helicopter Shot” gain widespread popularity. Often termed a “Captain Cool”, Dhoni led India to rank 1 in ICC World ranking in all the three formats of cricket. He is definitely one of the best captains that India has ever received.
#2 Ricky Ponting (Australia)
One of the most successful cricket captain of the world. He led Australia to consecutive ICC World Cup Championship victory in the year 2003 and 2007. He is no doubt the most destructive No.3 batsmen of all time. He has the highest winning percentage as captain. He was part of the hat-trick World Cup winning Australian team. Ricky Ponting linked with several controversies of misbehaving and influencing decisions of the umpire. No doubt he led the best Australia squad during his cricketing tenure (2002-2011) called as “golden era”.
#1 Clive Floyd (West Indies)
The former cricket captain of team West Indies, Clive Lloyd was the captain of West Indies when they won the world cups in 1975 and 1979. He was an explosive batsman and no doubt the best captain in entire cricket history of all time. Under his leadership, West Indies ruled the cricket world for almost two decades. He hit a match-winning hundred in the first ever World Cup Final at Lord’s in 1975 to make West Indies victorious. He will always be memorized as greatest cricket captain of West Indies.
