Cricket World Cup History: Ranking the top four captains in the tournament's history
The whole cricketing world has been gripped by the World Cup fever. There is excitement in the air as the mega event gets underway with the hosts England taking on South Africa in the opener at the Oval in London.
The event would be the 12th edition of the mega event. Australia has won the World Cup five times while India and West Indies have won the title two times each.
A captain has a big role to play in cricket. A strong captain is an asset for the team. Right from selecting the best playing XI to deciding which bowler to bowl at which stage of the game, a captain needs to be thinking at every single point of the match. Some astute minds of the game like MS Dhoni, Ricky Ponting have done a great job of leading their teams at the World Cup.
Through this article, we take a look at the top 4 captains in World Cup history.
#4 Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev created a miracle of sorts by beating the mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cup. In fact, India managed to beat West Indies (unbeaten in World Cups till then) two times during the tournament in 1983. India won 11 of the 15 matches in which Kapil captained the side at the World Cups. Kapil also led India at the 1987 World Cup but India were not able to defend their title as England beat them in the semi-finals.
In a must-win game against Zimbabwe, India batted first and were in all sorts of bother when Kapil walked into the crease. With half the side back in the hut and the scorecard reading 17, Kapil decided to counter-attack. Dev scored his century off 100 balls. Together with Syed Kirmani, he put on an unbeaten 126 runs for the 9th wicket – a world record and finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes.
His innings helped India qualify for the semi-finals. In the final as well, Kapil took an excellent catch of Vivian Richards to bring India back into the game.