Top 10 captains with the highest average in ODI cricket

An Irishman who turned the fortunes of the England team in ODIs, Eoin Morgan was destined for bigger things as soon as he made his international debut for his home country and scored 99. When he switched loyalties, Morgan was earmarked for captaincy, but the thinking of the board needed to be changed and that transformation came after the debacle of 2015 World Cup.

Morgan was given more powers and got players who were tailormade for the format and the result is that England is now the no.1 ranked ODI team and firm favorites to win the 2019 World Cup, taking place in their backyard. The first player to play 200 ODIs for England, Morgan has a total of 3736 runs as England captain in 99 matches with seven centuries at an average of 46.12. His batting laid the groundwork to England’s aggressive stance with the bat and he has carried on in the same vein ever since.

4. Kane Williamson (New Zealand)- 46.68

Kane Williamson has continued the long line of mild-mannered New Zealand captains, but give a bat in his hands and he is a magician with it. Williamson was the deputy of Brendon McCullum, who led the Kiwis to the finals of the 2015 World Cup and Williamson was one of the leading run-scorers in the tournament.

As a captain, Williamson has become a more stable batsman but has also gotten an aggressive streak going, which has seen him making 2801 runs in 65 matches at the helm at an average of 46.68 with five centuries. His batting is easy on eyes and this has made him a fan favorite not only amongst his own fans, but even the followers of other teams love to watch him bat for hours.

3. MS Dhoni (India)- 53.55

Perhaps the greatest captain ever to lead India in ODI cricket, MS Dhoni rewrote the manual of captaincy which his constant innovations in fielding, bowling changes and some amazing daring decisions which led to high returns. He captained India in 196 games, scoring 6641 runs with six centuries at an average of 53.55.

MS Dhoni’s stats have been byhearted by his fans which read over 10,000 runs in 341 matches at an average of 50.72 and 10 centuries. Dhoni won the ICC World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013 at the helm and many times, rescued the team from impossible situations and his amazing technique of taking the game to the last over while chasing made many sweat buckets while watching him finishing the match with a six.

2. AB de Villiers (South Africa)- 63.94

AB de Villiers made batting look amazingly easy and played some audacious shots all over the ground. He captained South Africa in 102 ODIs and scored 4796 runs at an average of 63.94 along with 13 centuries. De Villiers surprisingly called it quits in 2018, a year before the World Cup, after being done mentally with the pressures of international cricket. He must have fought the temptation of winning that elusive world tournament while putting to rest the demons of 2015 tournament semi-finals elimination under his captaincy.

De Villiers, who holds the record of the fastest fifty and century (31 balls) in the format, led the team from the front and the responsibility of representing the country made him bat better, given his average is way, way better than his batting average of 53.50. ABD, as he is known lovingly, retired with 9577 runs in 228 ODI matches with 25 centuries and the best score of 176 and 204 sixes to his name.

1. Virat Kohli (India)- 80.84

Indian captain Virat Kohli is rewriting the ODI record books, becoming the youngest batsman to make 10,000 runs in the format and already has 41 centuries to his name, second to Sachin Tendulkar’s 49. He averages an outrageous 59.57 in the format in 227 matches with an amazing strike rate of 92.96. Kohli is currently leading the Indian team in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019 and his leadership has been starkly different to that of his predecessor Dhoni.

Kohli is more aggressive on the field and has 4153 runs in just 65 matches as captain and averages 80.84, which is the highest amongst the captains who have led in minimum 50 ODIs. He has scored 19 centuries as captain and his strike rate is 99.42, which can only make him one of the greatest ODI batsmen ever. The right-handed batsman has made batting as a captain just an extension of his regular self and has mentioned that it motivates him even further when he leads the team onto the field and result is that he bats even better than he does regularly.

(all statistics updated till May 31, 2019)