International cricket has seen astute captains, ice-cool captains, captains who were great man managers, inspirational leaders, and even young captains who tasted a tremendous level of success as captains in ODI cricket. From Ricky Ponting to Graeme Smith to Arjuna Ranatunga to MS Dhoni, we have seen leaders on the field and then as batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders, leading from the front. Without being also-rans, the aforementioned quartet and at least a handful of others boast distinguished captaincy records that they will be proud of and no doubt are a benchmark for the captains of today and tomorrow.
And, here’s a look at the captains who have won the most and highest number of One-Day International matches and bagged major titles and brought laurels to their countries.
List of captains with most ODI wins and highest winning percentage
| ODI captain | Period of captaincy | Matches as captain | Won | Lost | Win/loss percentage | Titles won and achievements |
| Ricky Ponting
Australia |
2002-12 | 230 | 165 | 51 | 71.73/22.17% | Two ICC Cricket World Cups (2003 and 2007), two ICC Champions Trophies (2006 and 2009) |
| Hansie Cronje
South Africa |
1994-2000 | 138 | 99 | 35 | 71.73/25.36% | ICC Knockout 1998 winner |
| Sir Vivian Richards
West Indies |
1980-91 | 105 | 67 | 36 | 63.80/34.28% | He captained the West Indies in more than 100 ODIs |
| Steve Waugh
Australia |
1997-2002 | 106 | 67 | 35 | 63.20/33.01% | ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 |
| Graeme Smith
South Africa |
2003-11 | 150 | 92 | 51 | 61.33/34.00% | Youngest South African captain (22 years and 82 days) |
| Wasim Akram
Pakistan |
1993-2000 | 109 | 66 | 41 | 60.55/37.61% | Led Pakistan to the final of 1999 Cricket World Cup |
| Allan Border
Australia |
1985-94 | 178 | 107 | 67 | 60.11/37.64% | 1987 World Cup winning captain |
| AB de Villiers
South Africa |
2012-17 | 103 | 59 | 39 | 57.28/37.86% | Third-highest win percentage for a South African captain in ODIs |
| Sanath Jayasuriya
Srilanka |
1998-2003 | 118 | 66 | 47 | 55.93/39.83% | Srilanka, under the captaincy of the Matara Mauler, were joint winners of the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 |
| MS Dhoni
India |
2007-16 | 199 | 110 | 74 | 55.27/37.18% | Most successful Indian one-day captain who won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and the 2013 Champions Trophy |
From the table above, what we can deduce is that Ponting’s ODI captaincy record is head and shoulders above those of his counterparts’s—in every way—whether they were his contemporaries or captains before the Tasmanian became Australia’s one-day captain in 2002. The Tasmanian also has the highest number of ODI wins and winning percentage. Most successful ODI captains have been identified by their win percentage, with the criteria being a minimum of 100 ODIs as captain for their national team.
oh! No! Where is Clive Lloyd? He must be at number one as the highest winning percentage
Clive Lloyd captained the West Indies only in 84 matches. Here, the criterion is 100 matches.