Cricket World Cup History - Captains with 'Highest Win Percentage'
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 began on Thursday, 30th May with England registering a thumping win against South Africa. Despite the loss, the captain's move of the day was highlighted by Faf Du Plessis, who brought Imran Tahir to neutralise Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow in the first over of the game. While South Africa were far from being competitive in the batting department, the bowling changes from the Proteas captain garnered praise from the critics.
On that note, let us have a look at the 6 captains who boast the highest win percentage in the Cricket World Cup history.
Note: This is a mere statistical analysis and does not reflect the quality of the players involved.
#6 Sourav Ganguly (India)
World Cup Captaincy Record (2003)
Matches - 11, Won - 9, Lost - 2
Win Percentage - 81.81%
Result - World Cup Finalist
Sourav Ganguly is as one of the most successful captains of India. He was the captain of India during the 2003 World Cup held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Under his inspirational leadership, India reached the finals of the World Cup.
India went into the tournament on the back of some poor performances on their previous tour to New Zealand. Not many had expected the Indian cricket team to do well at the World Cup. However India defied all odds and ended up as runners-up, losing in the finals to Australia. India managed to win 8 consecutive matches in the World Cup and only Australia got better of them on both the occasions including the finals.
India's charismatic captain Sourav Ganguly led from the front scoring 465 runs with 3 centuries with an impressive average of 58.12. He was the second highest run scorer in the tournament after Sachin Tendulkar.
#5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)
World Cup Captaincy Record (2011 and 2015)
Matches - 17, Won - 14, Loss - 2, Tied - 1
Win Percentage - 85.29%
Result - World Champions (2011), Semi Finalists (2015)
The Captain Cool - Mahendra Singh Dhoni ranks among the best captains of India. He was the captain of Indian Cricket Team in the 2011 and 2015 World Cups respectively. Dhoni having already lead India to the inaugural World T20 title in 2007, had already shown plenty of promise to become one of India's most successful captains.
The 2011 World Cup was held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. There were high expectations on India to lift the trophy after 28 years. It was Sachin Tendulkar's last chance to get the World Cup glory and India definitely did not disappoint. Captain Cool MS Dhoni lead India magnificently in the World Cup and his match winning 91 not out in the finals against Sri Lanka at a crucial situation earned him the Man of the Match award in the World Cup Finals.
India went into the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand as defending champions. India won 7 consecutive matches from the start, but unfortunately lost to Australia in the semifinals.
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