World Cup-winning captains: 1975-2015

5 Arjuna Ranatunga (1996)

Arjuna Ranatunga with the 1996 World Cup trophy.

The 1996 World Cup saw Sri Lanka romp to a remarkable win through aggressive batting, smart fielding, and excellent restrictive bowling. The man behind all that was Sri Lanka's inspirational captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who had devised the plans and the strategies that made them one of the toughest teams to beat in the tournament.

Ranatunga had given opener Sanath Jayasuriya and wicket-keeper batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana free rein to go hammer and tongs at the opening bowlers from the outset.

The plan worked wonders throughout the tournament and with players like Aravinda de Silva, Ranatunga himself and Roshan Mahanama available to shore up the middle order, the two openers had carte blanche. In the semi-final, the openers departed in the first over but Sri Lanka recovered to post a total that proved to be beyond hot favourites India.

Ahead of the final against Australia, Ranatunga, who was then the master of mind games, taunted star leg-spinner Shane Warne and it seemed to work on the big day.

Australia could only score 241 after an excellent start as Ranatunga and his army of spinners triggered a mid-innings collapse. Aravinda scored a century as Sri Lanka chased down the target to take Sri Lanka to the famous victory. Shane Warne went for 58 in 10 overs and fittingly enough, it was Ranatunga who hit the winning runs that night in Lahore.