It has been over 50 years since including the ODI format in cricket. This format boosted the entertainment and marketing level of this sport. This lengthy game checks the captain’s adaptability and how to utilize the playing XI in different situations.

There are many skippers in the history of cricket. Each has his style of managing his teammates. Some are very aggressive and some deal with calmness. But success is the goal of every captain.

Most Successful Captain in ODI

1-Clive Lloyd

Clive Lloyd and his team were considered gangsters of cricket in the 70’s & 80’s. His leadership was a mixture of result-based plans and a calm approach to his players. He took the charge of West Indian team in 1974 and changed their legacy.

Under Clive’s captaincy, the Caribbean team became world champions continuously in 1975 or 79. In his 10-year journey of captaincy, his team winning ratio was 76.19%. He registered the second most wins as captain in ODI for West Indies. He was successful in 64 games out of 84 matches.

From the 1980’s to 84, Caribbean nation fear was at its peak in cricket. In those 4 years, Lloyd won 27 test matches continuously. He also give an important role in the growth of players like Viv Richards.  He was awarded as player of the match in the 1975 WC final for his 102 runs innings.

2-Rohit Sharma

In the journey of 3 years, Rohit became the most successful captain of India. In 2022, when the team crumbled, some new faces like Shubman Gill were in the dressing room. Rohit pushes the team back on the track.

In one-day international, he represented the team in 56 games as a skipper and 42 times he was successful. His match-winning ratio is 75%. His record in the ICC tournaments is un-catchable. In the 2023 ODI WC, India won 10 consecutive games before the final defeat. 

In the 2025 Champions trophy, they remained the un-beatable side of the tournament. They played five games and won all of them. His beast mode in the batting and cool mode in the field provides good results for the Indian team. Recently, he retired from Test format and T20 format after lifting the 2024 World Cup.

3-Ricky Ponting

The reason behind the Aussies dominance from 2000’s to 2010 was Ricky Pointing’s captaincy. His aggression on the field charged up the team every time. He has the achievement of most wins as captain in ODI history.

Ricky’s ICC events campaign is the dream of any skipper. Representing Australia in 3 one day WC, just lost 2 matches. He lift the world cup title 2 times un-defeatedly as a leader of the team. Once in 2003 and another in 2007.

Ricky’s captaincy record is shocking, he won the most number of one-day internationals for Australia. He got the positive result 165 times. His ODI game-winning ratio is 71.73% after leading his team in 230 matches.

4-Hansie Cronje

Hansie Cronje was one of the greats of African cricket but the end of his journey was like a nightmare. The all-rounder has led the team for 6 years. Cronje was popular for his strange decisions on the field. He scored the most wins as captain in ODI for South Africa.

He represented the Proteas in 138 games out of which the team won 99 matches. His success ratio in ODI’s was 71.73%. But, at the start of the 21st century, Hansie faced a match-fixing scandal and he got banned for a lifetime. After 2 years of match-fixing, he died in a plane accident.