The table below has information of all the ten captains who have captained the maximum number of matches with all three formats combined. A brief analysis is also available below the table.
Captain | Country | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Tie | Drawn | Win/Loss | Win% | Loss% |
MS. Dhoni | INDIA | 2007-2018 | 332 | 178 | 120 | 6 | 15 | 1.48 | 53.61 | 36.14 |
RT. Ponting | Australia | 2002-2012 | 324 | 220 | 77 | 2 | 13 | 2.85 | 67.9 | 23.76 |
SP.Fleming | New Zealand | 1997-2007 | 303 | 128 | 135 | 2 | 25 | 0.94 | 42.24 | 44.55 |
GC. Smith | South Africa | 2003-2014 | 286 | 163 | 89 | 1 | 27 | 1.83 | 56.99 | 31.11 |
AR. Border | Australia | 1984-1994 | 271 | 139 | 89 | 2 | 38 | 1.56 | 51.29 | 32.84 |
A. Ranatunga | Sri Lanka | 1988-1999 | 249 | 101 | 114 | 1 | 25 | 0.88 | 40.56 | 45.78 |
M. Azharuddin | INDIA | 1990-1999 | 221 | 104 | 90 | 2 | 19 | 1.15 | 47.05 | 40.72 |
V .Kohli | INDIA | 2013-2022 | 213 | 135 | 60 | 3 | 11 | 2.25 | 63.38 | 28.16 |
EJG Morgan | England | 2011-2022 | 198 | 118 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 1.76 | 59.59 | 33.83 |
SC Ganguly | India | 1999-2005 | 196 | 97 | 79 | 0 | 15 | 1.22 | 49.48 | 40.3 |
Snippets on the ten captains with longest tenures
• MS. Dhoni has captained more matches (combined). Success was three ICI Cups. One each in all three formats. India’s former Captain built a team capable of competing at the highest level and winning major competitions.
• Ricky Ponting continued from where Steve Waugh left. He had a powerful team which had Shane Warne and Mathew Hayden. Ponting has four ICC tournaments and the highest percentage of wins in the game’s history.
• Steven Fleming is another Captain Cool who proved that the Kiwis could fly high. Given New Zealand’s team, his win record of 42 plus is impressive.
• GC. Smith took over a struggling South African team and re-built it. Powered by his batting and Dale Steyn’s bowling, Smith recorded a phenomenal win percentage of 57 % as Skipper.
•Allen Border was the Aussie skipper who harnessed many talents, including many future Captains. His win percentage was also above 50.
• Arjuna Ranatunga was the Captain who turned the tide as far as Sri Lankan Cricket is concerned. His win percentage at 40 is high elevation compared to his predecessors, who did not have even 5%. His moment of triumph was winning the ODI World Championship.
• Mohd. Azharuddin may be the most controversial Captain, but none can erase his achievements as a skipper for nearly a decade. He nurtured Indian ODI cricket after the legendary Kapil Dev.
•Virat Kohli may be struggling now, but his win percentage would never struggle. He stands almost shoulder to shoulder with Ponting, but his Achilles Heel is that he never managed to win a single ICC tournament.
• E. Morgan, the Skipper with a lot of brains. A wise captain and a swash-buckling batsman fall short of the coveted 60% elite group of winning captains, and his understudy Ben Stokes has now taken over. Morgan’s crowning glory was the win over New Zealand in the ICC world cup.
• Saurabh Ganguly was a cricketer who rose from the ashes. None had heard his name until he belted his first hundred against England. He partnered Sachin Tendulkar in the ODI’s, and those magnificent knocks earned him Skipper’s cap. Ganguly taught his fellow mates to daredevilry, and he is now perched on the most powerful chair in World Cricket; The President of the BCCI.