Who was the best ICC Cricket World Cup winning captain ever?

[Harsh Thakor]

This is my list of the best captains of winning teams in world cup history in order of merit.

1.Arjuna Ranatunga
2.Imran Khan
3.Clive Lloyd
4.Alan Border
5.Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6.Kapil Dev
7.Steve Waugh
8.Michael Clarke
9.Ricky Ponting

Arjuna Ranatunga was the ultimate tactician.Imran Khan the ultimate man to ressurect a side from dire straits.Clive Lloyd a garet motivator and father figure.Alan Border a master in knitting young talent.

 

[Ram Shekhar]

According to me -

1. Imran Khan - greatest captain and the finest leader to command his troops in adversity; Pakistanis are just lucky to have this man, can't say any further.
2. Ranatunga - great team man and the most loyal and humble servant to Lankan cricket
3. Steve Waugh - amazing tactician and made Australia into what it is today

Others have indeed done well but can't come close to the towering statesmen stated above.

 

[PakLFC]

WG Grace.

 

[Usergame]

Lol at people putting imran khan near the top of wc masterminds. Dont get me wrong, I rate imran khan as the greatest cricket (test) allrounder of all time. Ahead of sobers.

However he wasnt a great wc tactician. Yes he inspired them once thy got to semis. But he had no great plan .

Pakistan only made the semis because of luck and rain. They won the semi because of a inzamam special.
Imran's planning wasnt all that special.

 

[happydavy]

Yeah right, if anyone is going to say that luck was not the biggest factor in getting Pakistan to semis then he/she is lying. Kudos to Pakistan for winning the world cup but it wasn't that Pakistan made a comeback by winning all the matches in the end, it's that New Zealand was too keen to play their semi finals at home and gave Pakistan a back door entry.

Ranatunga and Kapil Dev, won when no one gave them any chances. Kapil's Devils defeated WI twice in the tournament and bear in mind that it's well documented that odds for India winning the cup was more than 1:30 at the start of the tournament.

 

[PakLFC]

Lol at people putting imran khan near the top of wc masterminds. Dont get me wrong, I rate imran khan as the greatest cricket (test) allrounder of all time. Ahead of sobers.

However he wasnt a great wc tactician. Yes he inspired them once thy got to semis. But he had no great plan .

Pakistan only made the semis because of luck and rain. They won the semi because of a inzamam special.
Imran's planning wasnt all that special.

Relax! Most people here don't like any criticism of IK. Doing so makes them an Indian by default! Never a truer word said that the rain we are crying about today came to Pak's aid when we won it in 1992 more then Imran's Herculean efforts we keep hearing about. Had it not been for rain we could have had a South Africa-New Zealand final in 1992.

 

[Faiz1978]

Not only just World Cup, in year 1990 he won Nehru Cup in India as well which was participated by all teams so it was like mini World Cup

 

[satheesh]

for me in the order
1. Kapil Dev - upset the GOAT team... a journey that started from Albion where India beat Windies for the first time instrumented by none other than captain Kapil himself with a 72(38 balls). That kick started a series of 5 matches against Windies which culminated in India upsetting the GOAT team in the final .The result was 3-2 in favour of India in thus 5 match streak. Kapil led from the front thru out the tournament for an all rounder 'captain'. More importantly when ever the team was about to be eliminated he came to the rescue with crucial blows.

2. Dhoni - chasing a mammoth 274 in the final in front of the home crowd, he promoted himself to counter the threat of Murali amidst intense pressure and won the final.When he came to the crease he couldn't afford to relax even a bit because the asking rate was very high.

3. Ranatunga- minnows 4 years back, now coming with a brilliant plan and executing that to perfection to lift the trophy that too chasing a very good total.

these are my top 3.

 

[Itachi]

Ranatunga without a doubt. Others don't even come close.

 

[Hitman]

It’s easy, Ranatunga. Led a team who were minnows till just a couple of years previously, and won the World Cup. And if I’m not wrong, Sri Lanka won each one of their matches in the tournament.

LOL @ anyone putting Imran Khan ahead. The reasons have already been explained by posters above.

 

[sunnykhan]

for me in the order
1. Kapil Dev - upset the GOAT team... a journey that started from Albion where India beat Windies for the first time instrumented by none other than captain Kapil himself with a 72(38 balls). That kick started a series of 5 matches against Windies which culminated in India upsetting the GOAT team in the final .The result was 3-2 in favour of India in thus 5 match streak. Kapil led from the front thru out the tournament for an all rounder 'captain'. More importantly when ever the team was about to be eliminated he came to the rescue with crucial blows.

2. Dhoni - chasing a mammoth 274 in the final in front of the home crowd, he promoted himself to counter the threat of Murali amidst intense pressure and won the final.When he came to the crease he couldn't afford to relax even a bit because the asking rate was very high.

3. Ranatunga- minnows 4 years back, now coming with a brilliant plan and executing that to perfection to lift the trophy that too chasing a very good total.

these are my top 3.

Hardly a genius move! It was a dead track! Sri Lanka made 4 changes in their line up for final surprisingly. Gautam already made the game for India for which he deserves more praise than Dhoni.

 

[satheesh]

Main reasons for placing that order order of merit

1. Kapil - upset GOAT team,lead front the front as an allrounder in all 4 departments,came to the rescue at vital moments himself.
2. Dhoni -though was far off till that point , he came to the rescue at the most vital moment bringing 'all his performance of the tournament ' into this most vital moment.
3. Ranatunga - from minnows to title holders. Leading from the front in batting too

 

[satheesh]

Hardly a genius move! It was a dead track! Sri Lanka made 4 changes in their line up for final surprisingly. Gautam already made the game for India for which he deserves more praise than Dhoni.

dead track or not , it was a 'world cup final of all matches' in front of the home crowd chasing a mammoth total. Gambhir's was bit a more important, but the thread is about captain's performances, isn't it?

 

[Justcrazy]

Tactically I would Rate Ranatunga as best.

He went with two seamers .

He went in with two hard hitting openers , and also had a very solid batting middle order . With Roshan Mahanama at number 7 , followed by Dharmasena at 8.

 

[BlueBeamer]

Hardly a genius move! It was a dead track! Sri Lanka made 4 changes in their line up for final surprisingly. Gautam already made the game for India for which he deserves more praise than Dhoni.

Dhoni had been in poor form all throughout the tournament, couldn't middle the ball properly yet come the final he took the responsibility, promoted himself up the order and chased down the big total in front of a raucous home crowd. A lot more daring and praiseworthy effort than some so-called genius captains in this thread.

 

[Itachi]

Dhoni had been in poor form all throughout the tournament, couldn't middle the ball properly yet come the final he took the responsibility, promoted himself up the order and chased down the big total in front of a raucous home crowd. A lot more daring and praiseworthy effort than some so-called genius captains in this thread.

That's dhoni the batsman you are talking about.

The discussion is about dhoni the captain.

 

[ManFan]

Ricky Ponting and its not even close.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

for me in the order
1. Kapil Dev - upset the GOAT team... a journey that started from Albion where India beat Windies for the first time instrumented by none other than captain Kapil himself with a 72(38 balls). That kick started a series of 5 matches against Windies which culminated in India upsetting the GOAT team in the final .The result was 3-2 in favour of India in thus 5 match streak. Kapil led from the front thru out the tournament for an all rounder 'captain'. More importantly when ever the team was about to be eliminated he came to the rescue with crucial blows.

2. Dhoni - chasing a mammoth 274 in the final in front of the home crowd, he promoted himself to counter the threat of Murali amidst intense pressure and won the final.When he came to the crease he couldn't afford to relax even a bit because the asking rate was very high.

3. Ranatunga- minnows 4 years back, now coming with a brilliant plan and executing that to perfection to lift the trophy that too chasing a very good total.

these are my top 3.

It was not mammoth, dew made it further easier, murali was already finished & apart of malinga there was nothing in srilankan bowling to talk.

 

[Hitman]

It was not mammoth, dew made it further easier, murali was already finished & apart of malinga there was nothing in srilankan bowling to talk.

So how exactly did they reach the finals with that bowling attack?

 

[satheesh]

It was not mammoth, dew made it further easier, murali was already finished & apart of malinga there was nothing in srilankan bowling to talk.

for me 274 in 50 overs is mammoth in itself let alone world cup or final or home crowd.Easier or not, batsmen with far more reputations didn't rose to the occasion.Then .... what ever suits you...

 

[MMHS]

Arjuna - by some margin. He was the ultimate - Captain, selector, mentor, tactician. Apart from making best use of his resources, he (his team) actually was almost a revolutionary - brought lots of innovations in the game and his tactics was spot on for a WC in South Asia. If ever a Captain won an ICC event (rather than team), it has to be Arjuna.

In the bottom has to be S Waugh - guy didn't deserve to be Captain and he was not even in ACB's plan. He was already superseded by much younger Mark Taylor both at NSW & for AUS, and ACB was grooming the naughty Leggi as Taylor's successor (would have been one of the best Captains ever), but Warne's on & off field antics scared them, they went for a safe option of Steve Waugh.

 

[Hitman]

Arjuna - by some margin. He was the ultimate - Captain, selector, mentor, tactician. Apart from making best use of his resources, he (his team) actually was almost a revolutionary - brought lots of innovations in the game and his tactics was spot on for a WC in South Asia. If ever a Captain won an ICC event (rather than team), it has to be Arjuna.

In the bottom has to be S Waugh - guy didn't deserve to be Captain and he was not even in ACB's plan. He was already superseded by much younger Mark Taylor both at NSW & for AUS, and ACB was grooming the naughty Leggi as Taylor's successor (would have been one of the best Captains ever), but Warne's on & off field antics scared them, they went for a safe option of Steve Waugh.

Mark Taylor is older than Steve Waugh.

 

[ak619]

1. Kapil Dev
2. Arjuna Ranatunga
3. Alan Border
4. Ricky Ponting
5. MS Dhoni
6. Imran Khan
7. Clive Llyod
8. Michael Clarke
9. Steve Waugh

In that order.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

for me 274 in 50 overs is mammoth in itself let alone world cup or final or home crowd.Easier or not, batsmen with far more reputations didn't rose to the occasion.Then .... what ever suits you...

In cricket the terms home crowd & home ground always count in favor of the the host.

2011 indian team, if sreeshant would have been captaining the side he could have won the world cup too. That is why Kapil with 83 team was better captain then ponting with 03 & 07 teams.

 

[ManFan]

In cricket the terms home crowd & home ground always count in favor of the the host.

2011 indian team, if sreeshant would have been captaining the side he could have won the world cup too. That is why Kapil with 83 team was better captain then ponting with 03 & 07 teams.

Ponting won in SA and WI.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Ponting won in SA and WI.

Nah, the conversation is little different, the team which ponting had could have won on space even.

 

[ManFan]

Nah, the conversation is little different, the team which ponting had could have won on space even.

The majority of their team was 30+, bowlers included.

They were without their best player, Warne, whose scandal could have unsettled the team.

I think rather than the talent of the team, it was the sheer ability of will that has never been equaled since. They came close to losing a few times but there was never a sight of defeat until the last ball was bowled.

 

[Hasan123]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni for me.


Led from the front in the final. Also had a very weak bowling attack but he still got the best out of it. Don’t think it was India’s bowling which cost the in that tournament. It was their batting. Should have gotten more in the semi, in the QF there batting made a hash of 260 score, and in the group games they collapsed against Poms and South Africa when it great positions.

 

[satheesh]

In cricket the terms home crowd & home ground always count in favor of the the host.

2011 indian team, if sreeshant would have been captaining the side he could have won the world cup too. That is why Kapil with 83 team was better captain then ponting with 03 & 07 teams.

what ever way you look at it the situation Dhoni came in was extremely tough ....

to assume that Sreeshanth would have played the inns Dhoni played ...I am not that dumb *** ...

 

[Ronaldo7]

what ever way you look at it the situation Dhoni came in was extremely tough ....

to assume that Sreeshanth would have played the inns Dhoni played ...I am not that dumb *** ...

Well sreeshanth was a bowler so...

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Tactician as a captain... Ranatunga for me...

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Dhoni had been in poor form all throughout the tournament, couldn't middle the ball properly yet come the final he took the responsibility, promoted himself up the order and chased down the big total in front of a raucous home crowd. A lot more daring and praiseworthy effort than some so-called genius captains in this thread.

then the knock of Ricky in 2003 final which ended the match in 50 overs... before India even bat...

Gilchrist did the same in 2007 final...

Steve waugh who made use of the conditions in 1999 final to restrict pak is a tactically genius...Applied pressure from nowhere and bundled them out for 132 that is what we are discussing here i believe...

 

[T Bone]

This is my list of the best captains of winning teams in world cup history in order of merit.

1.Arjuna Ranatunga
2.Imran Khan
3.Clive Lloyd
4.Alan Border
5.Mahendra Singh Dhoni
6.Kapil Dev
7.Steve Waugh
8.Michael Clarke
9.Ricky Ponting

Arjuna Ranatunga was the ultimate tactician.Imran Khan the ultimate man to ressurect a side from dire straits.Clive Lloyd a garet motivator and father figure.Alan Border a master in knitting young talent.

I think this list is incomplete without the captains from the 1920's 30's and 40's era. How can we have the best captain who doesn't belong to that golden era? I am sure you, Roberts and Junaids will agree with me.

s/

 

[PakLFC]

Ranatunga. No one really gave Sri Lanka any chance when they won it. As a batsman Rana was average at best yet gathered his troops to win the trophy for his little island. No ten hour speeches on leadership and how awesome he is like Imran Khan does.

 

[MMHS]

Mark Taylor is older than Steve Waugh.

By age just about 10 months, but Waugh was 3-4 years senior in NSW team and Australia team as well.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

what ever way you look at it the situation Dhoni came in was extremely tough ....

to assume that Sreeshanth would have played the inns Dhoni played ...I am not that dumb *** ...

Who was the best ICC Cricket World Cup winning captain ever?

This is the title & you keep on talking about 1 inning, anyway if you think that Dhoni is the best then may be.

 

[CricketIsAwesome]

Hands down, the "Palmolive da jawab nahin" man, Kapil Phaaji.

He did it against the greatest odds, at a time when Asian teams were simply expected to participate and not win.
He led a bunch of mediocre players, motivating them enough for a win which they did.

He had been very gracious about that famous win at Lords.

 

[khan_aa]

ponting - miles ahead of anyone. captain of two world cups. player in one.

australia won 3 world cups with him, twice with him as a captain

 

[satheesh]

Who was the best ICC Cricket World Cup winning captain ever?

This is the title & you keep on talking about 1 inning, anyway if you think that Dhoni is the best then may be.

there is a small matter called 'leading from the front for a captain' and this is where Dhoni gathers his points from that entire one match. As I said Dhoni executed this 'leading from the front for a captain' in that particular most crucial moment of time in the tournament for India.Hence,
Dhoni is able to acquire more points from that one match than a captain can gather ' from an entire tournament in an ordinary scenario' . Hope you got the point.
This doesn't diminish Dhoni's tactical brain & man management skills in that world cup either.

 

[sunnykhan]

dead track or not , it was a 'world cup final of all matches' in front of the home crowd chasing a mammoth total. Gambhir's was bit a more important, but the thread is about captain's performances, isn't it?

It wasn't a mamoth target.

India had home ground advantage as well. Crowd pressure / support is quite subjective. It works either ways. Not a big factor.