Greatest 5 cricket captains

1. Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh’s Captaincy Record in Test Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	W/L	%W	%L
1999-2004	57	41	9	0	7	4.55	71.92	15.78

Steve Waugh’s Captaincy Record in ODI’s Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
1997-2002	106	67	35	3	1	65.23

Australia has always been a potent force in cricket but Steve Waugh converted this potent team into world champion. Even though Australia had earlier won the world cup in 1987 but it never became a phenomena the way it did after winning in 1999 under Steve Waugh. From there onwards Australia became as ruthless as the West Indian team of 70s and 80s. His captaincy span was from 1997 to 2002 in Odis and up to 2004 in Test matches. His side was under some serious pressure in the 1999 world cup as they did not have a great start. His captaincy was seriously tested and he stood firm against the odds and came out victorious. Under his captaincy, Kangaroos won 41 out of 57 tests and these figures make him the best captain in test history in terms of win percentage.

2. MS Dhoni

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	W/L	%W	%L
2008-2015	60	27	18	0	15	1.50	45%	30%

MS Dhoni’s Captaincy Record in ODI Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
2007-2016	191	104	72	4	11	60.21

India got knocked out of the world cup 2007 in the very first round after the defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. It was evident that sooner or later, Rahul Dravid would step down as a captain. But the question was that who will fill in the void after Rahul. In that scenario, BCCI took an out the blue decision and made MS Dhoni the captain of the team. This decision changed the fortune of the Indian cricket. He is a man of great temperament and calm head and it appears that even the 40 degrees Celsius weather of Chennai can’t make him lose his cool. His captaincy stint got off to a bang when India won the inaugural edition of T20 world cup in 2007. His achievements as an Indian captain are so monumental that many pundits call him the best captain India has ever had. Under his captaincy, India won the 2008 tri series in Australia, Asia Cup 2010, ICC world cup 2011, Champions trophy 2013 and also became the number one test team.

  3. Ricky Ponting

Rickey Ponting’s Captaincy Record in Test Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	W/L	%W	%L
2004-2010	77	48	16	0	13	3.00	62.33	20.77

Rickey Ponting’s Captaincy Record in ODI Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
2002-2012	230	165	51	2	12	76.14

The legacy of Australian Juggernaut continued for almost a decade thanks to this man. After Steve Waugh step down from Odis in 2002, the best puller in the cricket world became the captain of Australia. Being blessed with the formidable team having top class batting, athletic fielding and devastating bowling line up, the Aussies ruled the world of cricket under Ricky Ponting. Landmark victories under the great Ricky Ponting include ICC world cups in 2003 and 2007, ICC champion’s trophy in 2006 and 2009 and 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 2006-07. Under his captaincy, Aussies won in almost every part of the world in both test matches and one day internationals. He led the team till the 2011 world.

    4. Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith’s Captaincy Record in Test Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	W/L	%W	%L
2003-2013	109	52	29	0	27	1.88	48.11	25.47

Graeme Smith’s Captaincy Record in ODI Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
2003-2011	150	92	51	1	6	64.23

After the South Africa’s disastrous exit from 2003 world cup, Smith took over as the captain of the side at the age of 22. His immediate assignment was in England where he scored consecutive double hundreds. Graeme Smith holds the record for captaining in most number of test matches. He led his country in 109 test matches from 2003 to 2014 with astounding success and made South Africa the number one test team in 2008. Under his captaincy, South Africa defeated formidable Australian team in famous 2006 odi series 3-2 by chasing 434 runs in the final match. South Africa remained undefeated for two years in test matches from early 2012 to late 2013 under his reign.

5.Imran Khan

Imran Khan’s Captaincy Record in Test Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	W/L	%W	%L
1982-1992	48	14	8	0	26	1.75	29.16	16.66

Imran Khan’s Captaincy Record in ODI Matches

Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
1982-1992	139	75	59	1	4	55.92

Pakistan is and has always been a mercurial team. Despite of the great individuals and heavy weights like Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and Saleem Jaffar during 70s, the team could never develop a winning culture. In that era, more emphasis was on the individual performances rather than team victory. But all it needed to fix thing was a leader who could transform the culture and methodology of the team. So it did happen in and Imran Khan took over the captaincy in 1982. He was the heart throb of the sub continent and the captaincy only increased his charisma.

 He was the first captain in the history of the game who demanded neutral umpires in the home series and that too against the mighty West Indies. He was the first Pakistani captain to defeat India in India in 1987. The real highlight of his captaincy was winning the world cup in Australia in 1992 against all the odds.