Top 10 most successful ODI captains in history

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.