Successful Cricket Captains in The World’s Cricket History
Cricket is not just a word even not just a game – it’s an emotion for people across the globe! For Indians that one reason to cherish the ‘Time’ of British India whose glimpse we can even enjoy now with a bowl of popcorn, playing Aamir Khan’s Oscar-nominated movie ‘Lagaan’ where the land dispute was settled on a match of cricket.
Leadership’, ‘Responsibility’, ‘Patience’, ‘Keeping team first over anything’ & ‘Sportsmanship’ – all these qualities are true inspiration which the world has witnessed so far by those Dedicated personalities whom we call “CAPTAINS”. They are the ones who know the best way to deal during the crisis, the best one to know what’s the opponent’s next move can be, clear thinkers, inspiring, and pushing their team to believe to achieve their dreams.
Here goes the list of the Top 10 all-time best Captains in International Cricket
1) Clive Lloyd (1974 – 1985) – West Indies
Bringing the rise of West Indies Cricket, strongly built man with the attributes of a hard-hitting batsman, the firmest captain with a razor-sharp decision-making ability platformed the concrete pillars of West Indies in the World of Cricket for two decades.
Formidable bowler when enters the field with a heavy bat, the determined look can easily turn any course of the game. Powerful shoulders gripped with the full swing of the arms effortlessly scored 201 in just 120 minutes against Glamorgan recorded the fastest ever first-class double hundred in the year 1976. In the year 2008, he was appointed as the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee.
2) Steve Waugh (1997-2004) – Australia
The 1999 World Cup titles the first Australian to win the trophy twice. He is known to be the greatest batsmen and is highly respected for his mental strength. He is a bowling all-rounder and groomed his skills under the proficient captaincy of Australia Allan Border. Best known for his double hundreds in test series. After he retired from cricket in 2004 he continued to mentor athletes, sporting discipline along with philanthropic activities. His name is in the ‘100 Living Australian Treasures’ included by the NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA.
3) Graeme Smith (2003 – 2014) – South Africa
A significant batsman and greatest captain of South Africa whom the team celebrated as their Leader. Straight forward bold personality, where he bowled out the ‘age factor’ with his extravagant mental accuracy. Winning 53 tests matches a benchmark to tick for the upcoming leaders. Smith was an opening batsman who crafted the most runs by a captain in a test match.
4) Ricky Ponting (2002 -2012) – Australia
His extraordinary leadership led to successful winning of the consecutive World Cups 2003 and 2007. Have played 324 matches and won 220 out of them and have secured a winning percentage of 76.14. The batsman who always led from the front and the most successful run maker. He is now the assistant coach in the Australian National Cricket Team from February 2019. He played for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
5) Stephen Fleming (1994-2008) – New Zealand
The youngest captain at the age of 23, the highest run-getter in Tests and ODIs. He has flourished from the times of his opening matches and is admired by millions for his flick off pads, straight drive, cover drive, and cut shots. He was appointed as the coach of Chennai Super Kings at the IPL; he played for the team and was a part of the IPL 2010 winning.
6) M.S. Dhoni (2007- 2018) – India
The coolest, calm, and patient captain, the Leader to win ODI World Cup, World T20, and ICC Champions Trophy, with the most sixes in ODI about 229. He is known as the best wicket-keeper in the world. Under his captaincy, India performed the best in the history of Indian Cricket. He is also the captain of Chennai Super Kings, on its 13th anniversary he was named IPL’s Greatest of All Time. He is an icon of India.
MS Dhoni was the favorite player of APJ. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.— Srijan Pal Singh
7) Brendon McCullum (2009 -2016) – New Zealand
The Captain whose firm strategies brought New Zealand first Time to the World Cup Finals in the year 2015. Hard work, patience, efforts with his attacking abilities and never giving up attitude brought him the best captaincy abilities. He had scored a triple hundred against India in 2014. In a career of 62 matches, 36 wins with a percentage of 35.48 win percentage.
8) Virat Kohli (2013 – Present) – India
The current Indian Captain with an outstanding performance with 60.78 percent win in Test matches and 75.00 percent win in ODIs. He is known to be the man to break the records of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara’s, to become the fastest to score 20,000 International runs. He glorifies the list of the top 10 best Indian Cricket players. He inspires the entire pack with phenomenal leadership qualities with record-breaking abilities.
Virat Kohli the most successful captain with 33 wins in the Test match, regarded as one of the best batsmen in the World. One of the most ambitious players who effortlessly chased jaw-dropping targets with ease, on a way to become the most successful Indian Test captain. The Indian symbolic icon who brought Fitness culture in India.
9) Mahela Jayawardene (2008 -2015) – Sri Lanka
Fine captaincy with firm authoritative leadership a prolific batsman with an unsatisfying hunger for runs. Made over 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs, brought the team to the World cup finals in the year 2007. A skilled artist, the cricket ground, with the sheer abilities of great captaincy just behind Sri Lanka’s roaring captain Arjun Ranatunga. He is one of the most successful Sri Lankan Skippers with 18 wins in 38 matches.
10) Eoin Morgan (2011 – Present) – England
The self-believed player who led his team with immense confidence, making England Cricket Team win in the ICC Men’s 2019 Cricket World Cup. He played 111 matches and won 68 out of them with a 65.71 win percentage. He is well renowned as Middle order Batsman, of rare unorthodox talent, his journey inspires young youths to believe that the career graph might not be the most pleasurable one to experience but can bring life time achievements and a country wise recognition in the Global Forum.
Final words:
Mike Brearley is known as one of the best captains in the history of cricket, a resourceful, sympathetic outstanding player who played 31 matches with 18 wins, 4 losses and 9 draws with a 58.06 win percentage, an exceptional captain to date.
Other exceptional captains of all time are namely Viv Richards – West Indies, Allan Border – Australia, Imran Khan & Waqar Younis – Pakistan, Michael Vaughan – England, have marked phenomenal achievements in the history of cricket.
The Indian Cricket team is also blessed under the captainship of Kapil Dev the man who brought us the first World Cup, Mohammad Azharuddin the leader who trained world-class players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly the Bengal captain popularly known as Dada, all of these eminent captains responsible for India’s recognition in the global World of Cricket.
