Top 10 cricket captains in last 25 years

Captaincy in cricket, unlike,say,in football or hockey, can potentially revive a game or put one todead. With the immense scope forthe position in mind, let us take a look at the top 10 captains that the game has seen in the last 25 years.

#10 Rahul Dravid

SucceedingSourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravidexperienced contrasting heights in his short captaincy stint. For someone who led India to only its second Test series win in England and West Indies, the World Cup 2007 low was a very bitter pill to swallow.

Blessed with an astute cricketing brain, the Indian batting greats contributionsto the team as a leader, in partnership with Greg Chappell as coach,are undermined; under the captain-coach duo, India invested in youth, put in place a strict fitness regime, improved fielding standards and put away the complacency that was creeping in the side by temporarily axing the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, who were beginning to take their spots for granted.

As a captan,Dravid loved chasing: holds a record for captaining the ODI side to 16 consecutive victories while batting second.

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#9 Ricky Ponting

While statistically RickyPonting couldbe one the best captains ever, he should owe alot of his success to the ground work put in by the his predecessors Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor and theworld-class players the team boasted of.

The back-to-back World Cup victories, in 2003 and 2007, arethe highlights of his career. The Tasmanian shares a record 16-match winning streak in Test cricket with Steve Waugh, both coming to an end against India.

Also, the fact that he has lost 3 Ashes series as captain 2005, 2009 and 2011 doesnt do any good to his reputation.

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#8 Graeme Smith

It willprobably bea bit surprising for you to see Graeme Smith this low in thelist. The South Africanhaswon a world record 53 Tests as captain,buthe has always beenmore defensive in his approach. His success is the outcomeof his reluctance to lose rather than an attempt to force a win.

The Johannesburg-bornwasa good strategist, a confident captain, buthe alwayslooked to shut the window of loss before trying to open the door for a win, despite being blessed with match-winners in a heap. Hisinability to win any major trophyin the limited overs formats is a big negative, as well.

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#7 Arjuna Ranatunga

Ranatunga is the man behind the ascensionof Sri Lankan cricket. The Sinhalese playertook over a minnow side and worked very hard to createan identity for themselves in the cricket map. Not many would have placed their bets on Sri Lanka to win the World Cup in 1996, when the Island nationlifted the trophy defeating Australia in the final.

A middle order batsman, Ranatunga was known for backing his players fiercely, with the most famous incident being taking his team off the field after the match umpires questioned the legality of the legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharans bowling action during an ODI match against England in 1999.

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#6 Hansie Cronje

South Africas rise in the international cricket circuit,after their reintroduction in the early 1990s,has to be largely credited to the late Hansie Cronjes tactical masterclass. The Free State middle order batsmanwon aTest series in Sri Lanka in 1993 before drawing Australia and England away from home. He also registered series winsin Pakistan, New Zealand and India between 1998-2000.

The coach-captain combination of Bob Woolmer andCronje was known for their use of earpieceduring the course of the matches to plan their moves during the World Cup 1999, before bowing out in an unlucky fashion in the semi-finals.His admission to match fixingwas one of crickets all-time lows.

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#5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The Indian captainhas woneach and every ICC trophy around: 50-overWorld Cup (2011),T20 World Cup (2007),Champions Trophy (2013) and also has an Asia Cup to show for his credentials.

While it could be arguedthat he is not tactically up there with, say, someone like Stephen Fleming, the wicketkeeper-batsman compensates for it by his own style, which is leading from the front, not letting pressure take the better of the team and being unconventional.

While his limited overs exploits are there for everyone to see, Dhoni has overseen some of the worst Test defeats the team has seen: 4-0 whitewashes to Australia and England and a home series defeat to the latter. The Ranchi big hitter capitalised on the base set by Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumbleto take India to No.1 in Tests, wherethey stayedfor a brief period time before the retirements of great players took a toll on the team.

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#4 Sourav Ganguly

Taking over the reigns of the Indian cricket teamafterthe infamous 2000 match-fixing saga, SouravGanguly lay the foundation for the team becoming a force that it is today.The southpaw was known to be a bit too rigidand stubborn in decision makings that led to his ouster from the team after his disputewith the then coach Greg Chappell, 5 years after taking over the post. His lack of form with the bat didnt help, either.

The shirt-twirling celebrations atLords balcony after the 2003 Natwest series win, where the team defeated England in the finals,remains the best memory. Ganguly led the team to the finals of the 2003 50-over World Cup held in South Africa; to do so on challenging conditions and with a team not known to do well outside sub-continent speaks volumes about his abilities.

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#3 Stephen Fleming

New Zealands only major achievement till date ICC Knockout Trophy 2000 was won withStephen Fleming as captain. The Kiwi nation has never had an abundance of talent,and hence it needed a captain who was capable of tapping every last amount of potential available to make them a force in world cricket;in Fleming, who took his team to two World Cup semi-finals, in 1999 and 2007,they got one.

Aggressive and innovative, Flemings usage of Shane Bond, an injury prone yet one of the most devastative fast bowlers the game has ever seen, was delightfully refreshing.

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#2 Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh is a captain who isbest remembered for winning a record 16 Tests on the trot(he lead in 15 of those). Successfully inheriting his state mateMark Taylors winning genes, Waugh, during his tenure as captain, only let Sri Lanka and India win aTest series against his team and gave space to a lot of stars to flourish likeAdam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, just to new a few.

The grittymiddle order batsman also led the Kangaroos to their second World Cup title,by beating Pakistan convincingly in the 1999finalsafter edging an epic semi-final clash against South Africa.

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#1 Mark Taylor

When an Australian was persisted with despiteaveraging27.11 in 21 Test matches stretching over two years, and that too as captain, you know the value he broughtto the side.During thetwo-year period (1996-98), Australia won against Sri Lanka and West Indies at home and defeated South Africa andEngland in away series.

Out of Mark Taylors14 Test series as captain,hewon 11 of them,losing the remaining3:one against Pakistan (1994/95) and two against India (1996and 1997/98), whichincludes a single Test series.Even though he could not repeat his heroics in the One Day Internationalformat, the New South Wales openerled Australia to 1996 World Cup finals held in the sub-continent, which they lost to Sri Lanka.

He won every Ashes series he captained. His tactical nous is considered to be up there with the very best the game has ever seen.