Ranking the top 5 captains of the 21st century

Graeme Smith and MS Dhoni are one of the best captains the world has ever seen
Graeme Smith and MS Dhoni are one of the best captains the world has ever seen

Captains take all the important decisions in all team sports. In cricket, the role of a captain is even more important as, he has to decide on everything- right from selecting the playing XI, to changing the fields and bowlers according to the situation, to changing the batting order if required.

A captain does everything for the team, but only a few have the ability to create a legacy purely because of the way they lead their troops. No matter how good a team is, a bad captain can harm the chances of his team's victory because of his tactical decisions.

For example, Pakistan came into Champions Trophy 2017 as underdogs and nobody gave them a chance to do well. Teams like South Africa, England and India were well ahead of Pakistan on paper, but a few of the decisions taken by Pakistan skipper, Sarfaraz Khan changed the tournament for them.

Sarfaraz went into the tournament with three uncapped players (uncapped in ODIs) in his squad and he came back home with not just a trophy, but with three newly capped performing players.

It takes a lot of courage and confidence to hand three players their international debuts in a tournament of such a big magnitude. One of the debutants, Rumman Raees was handed his maiden ODI cap in the Champions Trophy semi-final. He picked up 2 wickets, including Alex Hales' wicket, and played a key role in Pakistan's victory in the match.

This just reiterates the importance of having a good captain and in this article, we shall have a look at the top five captains in the 21st century.


#5 Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum bidding adieu to international cricket
Brendon McCullum bidding adieu to international cricket

The former Kiwi skipper changed the way New Zealand thought about its cricket and brought in a unique brand of cricket. Under his leadership, the team built a never-say-die attitude and even 3 years after his retirement, they continue to follow it under Kane Williamson.

Baz's stats as captain
Baz's stats as captain

He always led from the front and played some stunning innings as captain including a triple century against India and the fastest Test match century against Australia. He played some earth-shattering innings at the top of the order and most notably, led them to the World Cup Final.

His team even managed to beat eventual winners, Australia in the group stage and he imbibed a winning culture into the team.

Although there are quite a few captains who have better records than Baz as captain, one must take a lot of factors into account and when one considers the fact that it was him who changed New Zealand cricket, there is no doubting that he makes the list.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly with the Natwest Trophy
Ganguly with the Natwest Trophy

Dada brought a quality to the Indian team that was never present in the Indian team before his tenure as captain- fearlessness. He is one of India's most successful captains and created a legacy because of the way he captained.

Ganguly's stats as captain
Ganguly's stats as captain

Under his captaincy, India won the NatWest series in England and even progressed to the Finals of the ICC KnockOut Trophy in 2000 and the World Cup in 2003. In 2002, India won the Champions Trophy as joint-winners with Sri Lanka. He achieved a lot of success as captain and even led India to some famous away wins in Test matches.

It was under him that legends like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan made a name for themselves and developed into the kind of players they were. He led a youthful team and nurtured them and helped them grow.

Although MS Dhoni is considered as India's greatest captain, nobody should undervalue the work Ganguly did as India's captain.

#3 Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith with ICC Test Championship Mace
Graeme Smith with ICC Test Championship Mace

The former South African skipper pretty much captained in all of his international matches as the southpaw was handed over the reigns at a tender age. He played only 30 international matches before being made captain and was only 22 years and 82 days when he captained for the first time. In the process, he became the youngest ever South African captain.

Smith's stats as captain
Smith's stats as captain

It was under him that the team achieved a lot of success and there would be no harm in calling it their best era. They went on top of the Test match rankings and even in the ODIs for some time. He even won a series in Australia against them and won 3 Test match series in England.

He recorded 53 wins in Test match cricket as captain and that is the most by any captain. This stat shows the amount of success South Africa had under him and there is absolutely no doubt that he is South Africa's greatest ever captain.

#2 Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting with two World Cup trophies
Ricky Ponting with two World Cup trophies

Ricky Ponting won three World Cups in his career and two of them as captain of the Australian team. The legendary player also won 2 Champions Trophy titles as captain and with 4 ICC titles as captain, he has won the most number of ICC tournaments as captain.

Ponting's stats as captain
Ponting's stats as captain

Easily one of the best captains in cricketing history, under his captaincy, Australia continued its dominance and won several matches and series. He won the Ashes as well and lost very rarely. They were invincible under him and to defeat them was considered very difficult and for some of the other teams, impossible.

He always led the team from the front, not just with his incredible batting performances, but also with his great courage and determination. The former Aussie skipper has been described as an inspirational leader by many and is the most capped captain in ODIs. He also captained the ICC World XI in his illustrious career.

#1 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni with the 2011 ICC World Cup
MS Dhoni with the 2011 ICC World Cup

The former India skipper is unarguably one of the best captains that the cricketing fraternity has ever seen. He has led India to many memorable victories and is in fact, the only captain to have won all 3 ICC tournaments. He won the World T20 as captain at a very young age and it was then that his captaincy credentials were shown to the world.

Dhoni's stats as captain
Dhoni's stats as captain

He was known for being calm and cool under pressure and took quite a few brave decisions as captain. He was fondly called 'captain cool' and handled the toughest of situations with utmost ease. He gave youngsters chances to express themselves and players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina blossomed under him.

During his captaincy career, he recorded 27 wins in Test matches and that is the most by an Indian and even his 200 ODIs as captain is the most by an Indian. Apart from the ICC tournaments, a few of his famous victories include a Test match victory at Lord's and CB Series win in Australia.

Although he achieved quite a lot in his career, one thing that he couldn't succeed at was winning Test matches outside India. He could only win 6 overseas Test matches in 30 attempts. This will perhaps, be the only blip in what would rather go down as a great career.

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Edited by Kumud Ranjan