The Captains' ODI XI

There is no greater honour for a cricketer than to represent his country at the highest level as captain.We often hear that captaincy invariably affects a cricketer, either for the better or the worse. Though there are instances when a leadership role has adversely affected the game of a good player, more often than not, it has tended to bring about the best.Here, we present our view on the best captains’ One Day International XI of all time based on the following parameters:1. The player should have captained in at least 30 ODI matches.2. If a player is selected best for, say, number 3, a second best No. 3 will not be considered for any other spot. For example, if Ricky Ponting is selected as a one-down batsman, Kumar Sangakkara misses out and will not be eligible to be selected at no. 4, unless the player has played at multiple positions for a reasonable amount of time.3. The performance of the captain as a player is being gauged, and not as a captain. Only his performance during his tenure as a captain is considered. However, the captain of this team is selected on the merit of his captaincy, and is mentioned in the last slide.The parameters returned 76 captains. It was a difficult task to choose the final XI. Nonetheless, we present the list, along with notable absentees and reason for their absenteeism.Note: The term ‘span’ in the statistics are the end points of the player as captain. For example, if X was captain from 1991-1994 and then 1996-1999, the span would read as 1991-1999.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

Who better to start proceedings than the ‘Prince of Kolkata’? On the back of a match-fixing scandal that rocked the world, Ganguly took over the reins and gave the team what it needed the most: belief. Players like Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni himself were unearthed during his reign at the top. But apart from being influential, he also led by example, providing blistering starts that proved match-winning, by and large.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1999-2005147510414438.6611465/3437.63
Overall1992-20073111136318341.02221005/1638.49

#2 Sanath Jayasuriya

Speaking of blistering starts, how can Sanath Jayasuriya be left far behind? Mahela Jayawardene once remarked, “We go into a match with 10 players and 1 match winner.” Nothing defines Jayasuriya better. The day he clicked, the match was meaningless after the 15th over of the innings. However, the fact that Jayasuriya performed remarkably well as a captain as opposed to the rest of his career is not a well-known fact. The following table would help illustrate the same.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1998-2003118437718938.7310925/2836.67
Overall1989-20114451343018932.36283236/2936.75

Notable absentees:

Graeme Smith: The burly left-hander could have broken into this team had it not been for either of these two limited-overs’ greats. In addition, the fact that both Ganguly and Jayasuriya could bowl more than decently, again, went against Smith’s favour. The South African still remains one of the prolific captains the game has seen, though.

Stephen Fleming: The second highest run scorer as captain and the highest as opener misses out due to a low average of 32.78; moreover, the strike rate difference is too vast even to be comparable. Add to that the fact that he had fewer 100’s having played more matches renders his case moot.

Sachin Tendulkar: Please be patient with me for not including him. There is a separate mention for why he was not chosen, right at the end.

#3 Ricky Ponting

The most unquestionable of all slots. He was the all-conquering player of the decade for many and has the highest centuries by any player as a captain as well as the most runs scored. The pace at which he got them stands out, too. An automatic choice. All other no. 3s would have had a fighting chance among themselves had it not been for this man.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain2002-2012230849716442.9122---
Overall1995-20123751370416442.033031/1234.66

Notable absentees:

Kumar Sangakkara: Perhaps the player who comes the close to Punter. However, there is still a yawning gap between him and Ponting when it comes to ODI cricket. He scored only a solitary 100 in his short stint as a captain and had a lower strike-rate than Ricky.

Martin Crowe: The other number 3 who comes within touching distance. Again a solitary 100 and only 44 matches as a captain along with a lower strike-rate went against him.

Brian Lara: The one-day arena meant Ponting was going to win this one. The fact that Lara had better figures in his career than as a captain also works against his case.

#4 Greg Chappell

One of the toughest spots of all. It will, perhaps, surprise you that only 3 players batting at no. 4 have scored more than 2000 runs at that position and only 14 above 1000! This made us think in a different direction: why not have an all-rounder here? We have two absolute smashers as openers, and an even faster scoring Ponting at no. 3. What if there are a couple of quick wickets? Enter Greg Chappell, who can not only stabilise the innings and blast away later, but along with Sanath Jayasuriya should complete the 5th bowler’s quota of overs.

He was easily the best batting all-rounder among them all, with a batting average of above 45 and a bowling average of below 27. This variation also meant that the 5th bowler could be a seamer or a spinner, depending upon the conditions of the playing field. That he was captain for 8 years but played only 49 matches shows how rare LOIs were back in the day. Ganguly and Chappell in the same team? Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1975-1983491718138*45.213545/1526.72
Overall1971-1983742331138*40.183725/1829.12

Notable absentees:

Mohammad Azharuddin: The highest run-getter at this position. However, the tactical move to play an all-rounder at this position worked against him. Add to that the fact that Greg had a considerably better batting average and a marginally better strike-rate (though having started playing a decade earlier) clearly outdoes Azhar.

Allan Border: The Australian Test giant was not so prolific in the one-day arena. Though he was the second-highest scorer at no. 4, an average of 32.16 as a captain closed doors for further negotiations.

Javed Miandad: Was certainly in the fray, but a lowly average of 36 did not help his cause. Add to that the all-rounder theory, and you have the answer.

#5 Clive Lloyd

Another difficult choice, but he had to make it into this list. The first captain to win a 50-over World Cup, he was one of the most impactful players West Indies had at that point. Add to that, the fact that he scored a century in the first ever World Cup finals faster than a run-a-ball (in 1975) completes the case. He was more than handy with the ball, too, though unutilized at the highest level. He remains the only West Indian to make the list.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1975-198584191610239.91162/430.83
Overall1973-198587197710239.54182/426.25

Notable absentees:

Arjuna Ranatunga: The greatest Sri Lankan captain of all time ran Lloyd very close. Both of them had a very similar record. So looking beyond the realm of statistics, their impact on the game was considered. Again, it was immense on both counts. In the end, Lloyd just about makes the list above him due to the number of years his team dominated the world being greater than that of Ranatunga. A very, very difficult choice indeed, could have gone either way, but Clive Lloyd also had a World Cup final century and two World Cup victories, along with another final appearance.

Misbah-ul-Haq: Misbah does have the best average by a no. 5 as a captain. But he was not going to come close to two bulwarks of the game.

Inzamam-Ul-Haq: Would have been an automatic choice if not for these two. One of the best Pakistani batsmen of all time, his stroke play oozed elegance. Though he had a better batting average than Lloyd and Ranatunga, the fact that he did not win a World Cup as captain went against him.

#6 AB de Villiers

We had one wild card, and we decided to use it on this man. At no. 6, we thought it was time to up the ante, and who better to do so than AB de Villiers? Not exactly a four-down batsman, but could be used as a floater; if the top order scores runs, he will be promoted up the order, else he would wrap up proceedings. Having the highest batting average by any player as captain and scoring those at a rate of knots really helps his cause. In fact, it settles it. He also has the best matches/hundreds ratio. However, it is still early days as captain for the charismatic South African, and which way destiny takes him to remains to be seen.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain2012- Present45204212860.056---
Overall2005- Present163656414649.7217---

#7 MS Dhoni

The current Indian captain pretty much selects himself as the wicket-keeper. Maybe, he would have made the list as a specialist batsman too. Has the second highest batting average in ODIs as captain, along with snappy glove-work. One of the best finishers in the game for all, and, for some, the best finisher of all time.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain2007- Present1595569139*58.62611/1431.00
Overall2004- Present2438046183*53.28911/1431.00

#8 Kapil Dev

And the last Indian to come in the list. His inclusion at no. 8 at the expense of Imran Khan might raise a few eyebrows. Many eyebrows, in fact. The reason behind the inclusion of Kapil Dev over Imran Khan is that since we already are playing 7 batsmen, the bowling aspect was given more weightage than the batting one. Imran was the slightly better batsman, and Kapil the slightly better bowler. Hence, the scales tipped in favour of Kapil.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1982-1987741564175*30.661915/4326.24
Overall1978-19942253783175*23.7912535/4327.45

#9 Shaun Pollock

We are talking strictly bowling now. Batting records are given as less relevance as possible. Due to this, Imran misses out again, this time to Pollock, who has the 2nd best bowling average among all captains to have taken more than 5 wickets and the 2nd highest number of wickets as captain, next only to the man who comes into this list later. This before considering the fact that he bowled when scoring 300 was normal. Imran, though the better batsman, did not have bowling credentials as good as the wily South African.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain2000-20059768969*18.1301345/3723.52
Overall1978-1994303351913026.4513936/3524.50

#10 #10 & #11 Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis

Any team hoping to accelerate at the end overs may have to think again. Any team looking to get off to a quick start may as well give up on it. Yes, we are talking about the deadly duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Easily the most destructive pair of all, they hardly gave away anything between them. Wasim has the highest number of wickets as captain; the fact that he has done it at the lowest average among all with 5 wickets or more, and you have got an undisputed entry.

Waqar just about selects himself, too. A brilliant economy, 3rd best bowling average and 4th highest number of wickets as well as the best bowling figures in an innings as captain closes his case.

Wasim Akram

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1993-200010913417917.6401585/1522.63
Overall1984-200335637178616.5205025/1523.52

Waqar Younis

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1993-200362215238.950977/3624.29
Overall1989-20032629693710.3004167/3623.84

#11 Special mention 1: Bowlers who missed the cut

We have already reasoned about Imran. Let us check a few remaining bowlers who did not make it to the list.

Daniel Vettori: The only specialist spinner to qualify for reckoning. However, since we already have a left-handed spinner in Jayasuriya, keeping in mind the balance of the team, we went for that extra pacer.

Heath Streak: One of Zimbabwe’s greatest cricketers, he fails to make the cut, as his bowling average and strike rate were yawningly below the ones chosen. Add to that the fact that he had lesser wickets silences his case.

Courtney Walsh: Though a prolific bowler, the same argument as that of Streak is enough to end the discussion.

#12 Special mention 2: why Sachin Tendulkar and Viv Richards were not considered

It might have surprised some of you that two of the greatest players ever to play the game were not chosen for this list. The answer to this question lies in the fact that we have chosen the team on the basis of the players’ performance as captain only, and not his overall records. There is a sharp decline in the performances of these two players as can be illustrated by these statistics below.

Sachin Tendulkar

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1996-2000732454186*37.756112/6173.63
Overall1989-201246318426200*44.83491545/3244.48

The above stats hardly seem to be of the same person! Legend has it that Tendulkar was always a better player when he was not captain. Only 6 hundreds in 73 matches as opposed to 49 from 463 is another predicament of the fact. This slump was the reason for his omission as well as that of Sir Viv Richards, as illustrated below.

ParticularsSpanMatchesRunsHighest ScoreBatting Average100’sWicketsBBIBowling Average
As Captain1980-1991105310518138.813646/4134.50
Overall1975-19911876721189*47.00111186/4135.83

#13 And finally... The captain

The most difficult job in a team of captains would be to select the best captain among them all. The contest was very, very close as it should be. We decided to use the process of elimination. Pollock and Jayasuriya eliminate themselves. Wasim and Waqar, too, were great performers as captain but not so inspirational as leaders as the rest of them. De Villiers has a very small sample space, and it would be impossible to judge him.

One important attribute to be a captain of a team that has 11 star players is to keep them in unity. That gives us our top 6: MS Dhoni, Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev and Greg Chappell.

Ponting, the only winner of two World Cups along with Lloyd, has often been said to have one of the best teams cricket has ever seen. His captaincy credentials can be questioned because when most of the players of the golden era left, Australia had a major slump.

MS Dhoni, though one of the best players in the world at present, and arguably of all time, has received immense flak for his captaincy, and that paved his way out.

Kapil Dev, though a World Cup winning captain, was more inspirational as a player and led from the front by his performances and not his tactical genius. That leaves us with the final 3: Ganguly, Llyod and Greg.

The final decision took a long time coming; since Greg and Ganguly would not love to play under each other, it would mean the choice automatically falls to Lloyd. But even if that had not been the case, the big West Indian, who has multiple World Cup victories as captain as well as another final appearance, was always the foremost runner. His CV included captaining a team of 11 superstars and the fact that he kept them united clearly tips the scales in his favor.

So that is it then. Our captains ODI XI, as methodically explained as possible. We acknowledge that everyone will not feel the same way. Feel free to mention your comments below about what you feel should have been the changes.

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Edited by Staff Editor