5 ODI captains with highest win percentage
ODI cricket has a long history spanning nearly five decades now. The 50-over format of the game has not only seen a lot of great batsmen and bowlers, but also some great captains, whose leadership is known to have been an important aspect for their teams' success.
A captain's role in the game of cricket is more than what meets the eye of a regular fan. While the skipper is constantly executing strategies or taking instinctive decisions on the field that could change the run of play, he is also very much a part of the think-tank off the field, unlike other sports.
There are many all-time great captains who are known to have built their teams, both for the present and the future, and transform the way cricket is played in their country enormously.
An important measure to analyze a captain's success rate is the percentage of matches he has won while leading the side. Here is a look at statistically the 5 most dominant captains in ODI cricket till date, holding the highest victory percentages.
Michael Clarke: 70.4%
On the 5th place on the list lies the man who had led Australia victory in the 2015 World Cup played at home. Michael Clarke, who was regarded as one of the best middle-order batsmen in the world of his era, took over from the most successful captain in ODI history, Ricky Ponting, post Australia’s defeat to India in the 2011 world cup.
The Australian team went through a major transition under Clarke’s captaincy, with a lot of legends retiring and being replaced by youngsters, but he managed to bring the team back to the winning ways. He captained Australia in 74 ODIs, winning 50 of them to maintain a win percentage of 70.4%.