Best Captain in the World:
Cricketers dream of captaining their country and It is the biggest honour for any player worldwide. What makes an excellent cricket captain? Leaders can lead by example, be tactical geniuses, or be nice guys. Some face political and religious challenges, while others bear a nation’s optimism. All this makes defining a great or best captain tough.
World Best Captain:
The world’s best captain doesn’t always lead the best team. Sometimes a great team makes an ordinary captain shine. A bad team can make a great leader appear bad. We analyse some of the best cricket captains in the world here.
What Makes A World No 1 Captain in Cricket?
Ricky Ponting is world no 1 captain in cricket. He is the only cricket skipper with a better win percentage (67.9) than Steve Waugh (66.25). However, Ricky Ponting captained a legendary Test team. Teams nearly captained themselves. Any player on that team may have achieved a comparable victory percentage. Here are the top 10 cricket captain in the world you should know about.
Top 10 Cricket Captain in the World:
1. Ricky Ponting:
Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia cricket team, is widely considered the best captain in the World. Among his 324 matches, Ponting has won 220 and become world number one captain in cricket. Under Ponting leadership, Australia won the ICC ODI World Cup in 2003 & 2007 and the Champions Trophy in 2006 & 2009.
Ricky Ponting is only player in cricket history who have won more than 100 Test matches. He, a most successful captain in ODI, has led his team to the most One-Day International victories. As the most successful captain in odi he comes first.
| Format | Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 230 Match | 165 | 77% |
| Test | 77 Match | 48 | 62% |
| T20 | 17 Match | 7 | 41% |
- Captaincy: 324 Matches
- Won: 220 Matches
- Win Percentage: 67.9%
2. Steve Waugh:
Steve Waugh, world’s best captain in international cricket, was a cricket fighter. Not the best batter, Waugh. He wasn’t even his family’s best hitter. Despite this, he averaged 51.06 in 166 Tests. Alan Border’s work was finished by Waugh.
His captaincy made Australia a winning team, including a record of 16 consecutive Test match wins. Waugh led Australia to the 1987 and 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup victories in addition to his Test match record.
| Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI: 106 Match | 67 | 65.23% |
| Test: 57 Match | 41 | 71.92% |
- Captaincy: 163
- Won: 108
- Win Percentage: 66.25%
3. MS Dhoni:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a standout captain with winning percentage of 56%. Inspirational, a wonderful leader, a good cricketer under pressure. He was an excellent wicketkeeper, hitter, and leader. Performing any of those things well is hard. Dhoni combined them all by some means. India anticipated his 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup victory. Dhoni was distinguished by his quick thinking, calmness when others were panicking, and self-confidence and will to win. India won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 50 Over ICC World Cup in 2011 under his captaincy.
| Format | Captaincy | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 200 Match | 110 | 55% |
| Test | 60 Match | 27 | 45% |
| T20 | 72 Match | 41 | 57% |
- Captaincy: 331 Matches
- Won: 178 Matches
- Win Percentage: 53.77%
4. Virat Kohli:
Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are the most successful Indian cricket captains, with 135 wins in 213 games at 63.38 percent. Kohli captained India for the first time in the December 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test.
The fourth Indian to hit a century on test captaincy debut did so in the first innings. The Delhi-born cricketer set many records as national team captain. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting have more international century than him with 71.
| Format | Captaincy | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 95 Match | 65 | 68.42% |
| Test | 68 Match | 40 | 58.82% |
| T20 | 50 Match | 30 | 60% |
- Captaincy: 213 Matches
- Won: 135 Matches
- Win Percentage: 63.80%
5. G. Smith:
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith was thrust in and had to learn. He became South Africa’s youngest captain at 22 after being acknowledged as a leader early in his career. Smith was still a boy in a man’s world when made captain. Smith was never the best batter to open the innings in the middle. He averaged 48.25 in 117 Tests.
| Format | Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 150 Match | 92 | 61.33% |
| Test | 109 Match | 53 | 48.62% |
| T20 | 27 Match | 18 | 66.66% |
- Captaincy: 286 Matches
- Won: 163 Matches
- Win Percentage: 56.99%
6. Clive Lloyd:
From 1974 to 1985, Clive Lloyd led the West Indies. He led the team to 48 Test wins in 74 matches. Lloyd’s team talked mostly on the pitch at the time. But he had big egos to handle, and Lloyd’s larger-than-life personality helped unite the players from the several islands and make them the world’s most feared team. Lloyd led his squad to 1975 and 1979 ICC Cricket World Cup victories.
| Format | Captaincy | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 84 Match | 64 | 76.19% |
| Test | 74 Match | 36 | 48.64% |
- Captaincy: 158 Matches
- Won: 100 Matches
- Win Percentage: 63.29%
7. Allan Border:
Allan Border is one of the finest Australian captains and batsmen, winning 139 games in 271. He also scored nearly 15,000 runs in a 15-year career. After Kim Hughes resigned as captain in 1984/85, Border led Australia to World Cup and Ashes glory in 1987.
| Format | Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 178 Match | 107 | 60.11% |
| Test | 93 Match | 32 | 34.40% |
- Captaincy: 271 Matches
- Won: 139 Matches
- Win Percentage: 51.29%
8. Brendon Mccullum
In December 2012, Brendon Mccullum, the dasher, was named captain of New Zealand. It was evident that his team will play the same brave and aggressive cricket he has played as an individual. He has led numerous famous Test triumphs, including headingly and U.A.E.
B. Mccullum best form was as captain in ODIs. His aggressive style of cricket in NZ astonished opposing teams during that time and the world cup. Eoin Morgan said they copied the Kiwis’ cricket following the 2015 world cup. So, Captain Brendon Mccullum was a charming and true leader who captivated cricket fans worldwide.
| Format | Captaincy | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 62 Match | 36 | 58.06% |
| Test | 31 Match | 11 | 35.48% |
| T20 | 28 Match | 13 | 46.42% |
- Captaincy: 121 Matches
- Won: 60 Matches
- Win Percentage: 49.58%
9. Imran Khan:
Where to begin with Imran Khan? His 14 wins in 48 matches as Pakistan captain doesn’t give him justice. Pakistan was a young cricket nation, and Khan sometimes carried his squad. In addition to leading men, Imran Khan was a diplomat who could span cultures and religions.
His best performance was leading Pakistan to their first ICC Cricket World Cup win. Pakistan started poorly at the 1992 Australian tournament. Khan inspired the team to a 22-run final win over England.
| Format | Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 139 Match | 75 | 53.95% |
| Test | 48 Match | 14 | 29.16% |
- Captaincy: 187 Matches
- Won: 89 Matches
- Win Percentage: 47.59%
10. Arjuna Rantunga:
Anyone who mentions Sri Lankan cricket must mention Arjuna Ranatunga. His leadership and vision for Sri Lankan cricket transformed the team. Before the 1996 World Cup, Sri Lanka was one of the weaker teams, but Ranatunga’s game knowledge, bold moves, and support of his players changed everything. Ranatunga led in 193 ODIs, winning 89 and leading them to their lone World Cup success in 1996. He has won 12 test matches out of 56.
| Format | Captaincy: | Match Won | Win Percentage |
| ODI | 193 Match | 89 | 46.11% |
| Test | 56 Match | 12 | 21.42% |
- Captaincy: 249 Matches
- Won: 101 Matches
- Win Percentage: 40.56%
Conclusion
So who is the no 1 cricket captain in the world? Hard to say but we short-listed top 10 cricket captain in the world. Young cricket captains are rare. Most international and franchise teams choose experienced leaders. Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Aiden Markram are promising young leaders under 30.
Captains are crucial in cricket. Their strategies, tactics, and aptitude lead the squad to win on the field. As team torchbearer, decision-maker, and communicator, he makes team decisions. Captains must motivate their teams to do their best and celebrate with everyone who helped them win.