CLIVE LLYOD (West Indies – 1975 and 1979 World Cup)
Clive Hubert Lloyd was arguably the most successful ODI and Test captains of all time. He guided the West Indies cricket team to three consecutive World Cup finals, winning two and losing one. During the infant days of ODIs, the West Indies team were considered strong contenders for the Inaugural Prudential World Cup held in England. Lloyd guided a team with players from different countries like Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. The team had revered players like Sir Viv Richards, Gary Gilmour, Lance Gibbs etc.
Interesting Fact: Sir Clive Lloyd was poked by a ruler in his eyes when he was 12 years old, while trying to break up a fight in school, since then he had to wear thick glasses.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 131 | 225 |
| Runs | 5248 | 3783 |
| Wickets | 10 | 8 |
KAPIL DEV (India – 1983 World Cup)
India’s outstanding fast bowling allrounders, Kapil Dev was perhaps one of the first aggressive cricketers the world witnessed. His greatest feat was to defeat the dominating West Indian team in the finals to lift India’s first cricket world cup. Despite India being restricted to 183 runs, the famous Kapil Dev catch of Viv Richards was the defining moment that unsettled the West Indians. He has taken 434 wickets and scored over 5000 runs in test matches, making him the only cricketer to achieve this feat.
Interesting Fact: During 1987 world cup, Kapil Dev’s sportsmanship cost India the match against Australia, when he agreed with the umpires to increase their total from 268 to 270. Ironically, India went on to lose that match by 1 run.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 131 | 225 |
| Runs | 5248 | 3783 |
| Wickets | 434 | 253 |
ALLAN BORDER (Australia – 1987 World Cup)
Australia was struggling under different captains, until the game changing captain, Border took the reins from Kim Hughes. He transformed the Australian Cricket Team to a unpredicted victory in the 1987 World Cup. Experts believe that this alteration established the prosperous times for the team in the upcoming years. Allan Border held the world record for the most test runs scored summing up to 11,174 runs, until West Indies cricketer Brian Lara broke it on 2005. He still holds the record as the most capped player in both tests and ODI’s.
Interesting Fact: Despite the fact that Allan Border was not a preferred bowler, he once took 11 wickets in a test match against the West Indians at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1989.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 156 | 273 |
| Runs | 11174 | 6524 |
| Wickets | 39 | 73 |
IMRAN KHAN (Pakistan – 1992 World Cup)
Arguably one of the fastest bowlers who held the number one position in the test rankings for a long period, Imran Khan was Pakistan’s most successful captain. Initially, Khan retired from cricket in 1987, he was requested by the Pakistani President Zia ul Haq to lead the team again. He led the team to its maiden World Cup victory in 1992, rounding off his career with 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket.
Interesting Fact: Imran Khan scored 72 runs in his final match he played against England in the world cup final, where he was caught by Illingworth off the bowling from Ian Botham, Amusingly, he captured Botham’s wicket when he bowled in the next innings.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 88 | 175 |
| Runs | 3807 | 3709 |
| Wickets | 362 | 182 |
ARJUNA RANATUNGA (Sri Lanka – 1996 World Cup)
Captain since 1988, Ranatunga led his nation to the greatest prize, changing the team and people who never thought would achieve the World Cup. He was one of the youngest Sri Lankan cricketers to debut in his team’s inaugural test match against England at the age of 18 (1982). He did it in style by scoring a half-century. Ranatunga’s strategy as a captain is still followed by many teams, where he took full advantage of field restrictions (power plays) and made Sanath Jayasurya score as many runs as possible. An aggressive individual who would support for his team at all costs and along with his vice-captain Aravinda De Silva’s exceptional performance in the finals.
Interesting Fact: Arjuna Ranatunga once bowled an astonishing figures of 6-1-14-4 in an ODI match against India. India ended up 78 all out and eventually lost by 119 runs.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 93 | 269 |
| Runs | 5103 | 7456 |
| Wickets | 16 | 79 |
.jpg?w=640&auto=format%2Ccompress)
STEVE WAUGH (Australia – 1999 World Cup)
The common way of introducing Steve Waugh is along with his fraternal twin brother and fellow teammate Mark Waugh. He was a crucial player while Allan Border was rebuilding his team, as he was capable of bowling at the last overs during the crucial matches with India and New Zealand. Steve captained the Australian side from 1999 to 2004, after the retirement of Mark Taylor. His significant world cup performance came during the semi-final against South Africa, where the match ended in a tie at 213 runs, where Australia qualified due to a better run-rate. Later, Australia went on to win the finals against Pakistan with ease.
Interesting Fact: Steve holds a special record of scoring more than 150 runs against all the test playing nations at least once.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 168 | 325 |
| Runs | 10,927 | 7,569 |
| Wickets | 92 | 195 |
RICKY PONTING (Australia – 2003 and 2007 World Cup)
Australia’s ‘golden era’ is defined under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting from 2002 to 2011. He is also country’s leading run scorer in both tests and ODIs. Following the ashes victory in 2002, Australia gave a dominant and undefeated performance in the 2003 World Cup, winning all the 11 matches, scoring an amazing 140 runs against India in the finals. The team repeated almost the same routine in 2006, regaining both ashes 2007 World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the final. Ponting scored more than 13,000 runs in both tests and ODIs.
Interesting Fact: Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring highest runs of 98 in the first ever Twenty20 International match against New Zealand.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 168 | 375 |
| Runs | 13,378 | 13,704 |
| Wickets | 5 | 3 |
MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI (India – 2011 World Cup)
Known for his cool demeanour and a great finisher in ODIs and T20s, Dhoni was a rare wicket keeper batsman that India needed. Dhoni kicked of his captaincy by winning 2007 ICC T20 World Cup and went on to win the 2011 ICC World Cup followed by the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Dhoni scored 91 runs out of 79 balls in the World Cup finals earning the Man of the Match award. Experts around the world deem him as the best Indian captain of all time. His success rate as a captain also translates domestically where he won the Indian Premier League with Chennai Super Kings.
Interesting Fact: Dhoni worked as a ticket collector in Kharagpur railway station while playing in Ranji Trophy representing Bihar.
Statistics:
| Test | ODI | |
| Matches | 90 | 250 |
| Runs | 4,876 | 8,192 |
| Wickets | 0 | 1 |