With every match being a do-or-die, teams need to come prepared in the Champions Trophy. And the first thing that they must focus on is having an astute captain to lead the squad.
A shrewd captain can shift the game in his team’s favour by using the right resources at the right time. The Champions Trophy has seen a bunch of captains who led their teams with finesse, bringing a lot of success.
And in this article, we’ll glance at the five most successful captains in Champions Trophy history.
5. MS Dhoni | India
India’s most successful all-format skipper, MS Dhoni, finds himself in the fifth position on this list. He was at the helm of the team in the 2009 and 2013 editions.
Across the two iterations, Dhoni led India to six wins in eight matches. India only dropped one game, with one match ending with no result.
Dhoni also guided the Indian team to the Champions Trophy triumph in the 2013 edition. India beat England in a nail-biting final, which was reduced to 20 overs a side.
4. Sourav Ganguly | India
Dhoni’s predecessor, Sourav Ganguly, edges him by an extra win to take the fourth spot. Ganguly gets the credit for revolutionising Indian cricket and laying the foundation for a dominating team.
And everyone got a glimpse of it during his Champions Trophy stint between 2000 and 2004. In three editions played in that period, India bagged seven wins out of 11 matches under Ganguly’s captaincy. India lost only two games, while the other two didn’t produce any result.
Interestingly, those two no results came in the 2002 final, which prompted India to share the Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Before that, Ganguly took India to the finals of the 2000 edition but lost it against New Zealand.
3. Stephen Fleming | New Zealand
New Zealand haven’t won a lot of ICC events. But Stephen Fleming led the Black Caps by example.
Under his leadership, New Zealand were a consistent side in multi-team events, including the Champions Trophy. Fleming guided New Zealand to eight wins while captaining them in 13 matches across five editions from 1998 to 2006.
The 2000 edition saw him take the Kiwis to their first-ever ICC title win. New Zealand defeated India in the tournament final to lift the trophy.
2. Brian Lara | West Indies
Everyone knows that Brian Lara was a fine batter in his playing days. But the Caribbean batter was also a good skipper.
And his record in the Champions Trophy speaks for himself. Lara won 11 of the 15 matches he led the West Indies in, translating to a win percentage of 73.33
Lara was at the helm for three editions, first in 1998 and then in consecutive iterations in 2004 and 2006. He took his side into the final in 1998 and 2006, returning with the trophy in the latter edition.
1. Ricky Ponting | Australia
Ricky Ponting takes the pole position here. He led Australia across four Champions Trophy editions between 2002 and 2009.
In between, Ponting took Australia over the ropes in 12 matches while losing only three times in the 16 games he captained. The other remaining match ended in a no result.
The 12 victories give Ponting a win percentage of 75, making him the most successful captain in the Champions Trophy. Alongside that, he added two Champions Trophy titles to the cabinet, that too in back-to-back editions in 2006 and 2009.
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