Cricket World Cup History: 4 great ODI captains who never won the World Cup
No other sport in the world emphasizes the importance of captaincy as much as cricket. It is widely considered as the most important job in a cricket field as the decisions taken by a captain can have a huge impact on the outcome of a game. We have seen many legendary players take up the role of a captain and excel at it while some great players have crumbled under the immense pressure that comes with the job.
Some other captains were largely successful throughout their career but failed to get their hands on the Cricket World Cup. In spite of being consistent and dominant in the group stages their teams failed to come up big against strong opponents in knockout games.
Here's a look at four such great ODI captains who could not win a World Cup:
#4 Stephen Fleming
The talismanic southpaw captained his side for 10 years from 1997 to 2007. Only Ricky Ponting has captained in more matches than him. His ice cool character and able man management skills were admired around the world. He never had 3 or 4 match winners in his team but mastered the art of extracting the best out of each and every player in his team.
His first World Cup as a captain came in 1999 when the Black Caps finished in the top four. The highlight of that campaign was the resounding victory against Trans-Tasmanian rivals Australia in the group stage. In the 2003 World Cup, they were knocked out in the Super Six stage after collapsing badly against Australia and India. In his last World Cup, Fleming led his team to the Semi-Final where they lost to Sri Lanka. Since his retirement, Stephen Fleming has enjoyed a lot of success as the coach of Chennai Super Kings.
Matches:218 Won:98 Lost:106 Tied:1 Win percentage:48.04%
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