Top 5 Captains with Highest Winning Percentage in Tests (Minimum 25)

Captain; the role has always been a special thing in the game of cricket. As Ganguly once said, the 50% of the game revolves around the captain’s ideas. Many great captains graced the game over the years. Meanwhile, we figured out the top five captains with the highest winning percentage who led in a minimum of 25 matches.

5 Captains with the highest winning percentage –

5. Virat Kohli – 57.89%

The current India skipper, Virat Kohli makes to the list of five captains with highest winning percentages. Since the day Virat took over the reigns from MS Dhoni, he led the team with new energy. He completely changed the face of Indian side by injecting ruthless approach.

Virat Kohli’s strong support for 6-5 policy yielded results for India in Tests. Later, he was phenomenal in the cricket circuit when India played a year-long home series. During the course, he led India to victory in every series.

Virat Kohli asked for the change in fitness which also helped Indian team to lift their cricket quite a bit. During the course, he developed a ruthless squad for India that can give an intense competition to any team on their day.

In total, Virat Kohli appeared in 38 Tests as a captain. Out of 38, he led India to the victory in 22 games and lost seven matches while the rest nine were drawn. His winning percentage as of now is 57.89%.

4. John Michael Brearley – 58.06%

The former Englishman, John Michael Brearley finds a place on the list of top five captains with the highest winning percentage. He led the team in a brilliant way when the Windies were ruling the world cricket. Brearley was always regarded as one of the best tacticians in the game.

Brearley led the team for four years from 1977 to 1981. He used to be the best wicketkeeper of those times and took the captaincy role just after playing eight international matches as a player.

Surprisingly, he never scored a century in his whole career but was regarded as one of the best captains for England. Eventually, he retired from the game after giving up the captaincy, then made his career in journalism.

John led England in 31 games in which, he guided a team to the victory ropes for 18 times and lost only four games under his captaincy. The remaining nine matches ended as a draw. He finished his captaincy with a winning percentage of 58.06.

3. Faf du Plessis – 60.00%

The South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis makes a cut into the list of top five captains with the highest winning percentage. Faf du Plessis got the luxury of leading the greatest players of the game. His incredible style of play was always given huge appreciation for him.

His calmness under pressure and the adaptability to bat in any conditions made him one of the greatest players for South Africa. However, South Africa attained the tag of home track bullies, as they haven’t achieved much success in overseas.

Despite faring poor in Asian conditions, South Africa has always been exceptional when it comes to fast pitches. Faf du Plessis led the team solidly in non-Asian states, as it suits his team better.

Coming to his stats, he led the team in 25 Tests so far. Off them, Faf tasted the success in 15 games while seven matches have seen them stay on the losing side. The remaining three were drawn. All in all, currently, he has 60% of wins as a skipper.

2. Ricky Ponting – 62.33%

The perfect synonym for ruthless could be the captaincy of Ricky Ponting. His mastermind coupled with the exceptional players in the ranks have seen Australia ruling the cricket world for many years. He sits second on the list of captains with the highest winning percentage in Tests.

Ricky Ponting has always been a master tactician for Australia. He used to lead the team brilliant in overseas and back home as well. Under his captaincy, Australia stood at number one in Test ranking often than not.

Apart from his captaincy skills, Ricky Ponting will be best remembered for his batting. He is one of the finest batsmen to grace the game. Ponting finished as the leading run-scorer for Australian in the international circuit.

In total, Ricky Ponting led Australia in 77 matches. They won 48 games and lost only 16 under his dominating captaincy. Meanwhile, 13 games ended in a draw. He finished with a winning percentage of 62.33%.

1. Steve Waugh – 71.92%

Probably, one can never see a captain like Steve Waugh in the game of cricket. Though Australia was known for their dominance in the cricket, it was Steve Waugh who brought the culture of destroying the opposition with their skills.

He injected the winning habit in the side and then brought ‘Never Give Up’ attitude to the team. Those were the days when winning against Steve Waugh-led side was a huge achievement for any team in the world cricket.

Apart from his captaincy tactics, Steven Waugh has been an exceptional scorer of match-winning knocks. He also rolled his arms to give those breakthroughs for the team. He and his brother, Mark Waugh used to be the best finishers for Australia in Test cricket.

Coming to his stats, Steve Waugh appeared in 57 games as the captain and led to the victory on 41 occasions. Seven times, they were ended on a losing side while nine games found no result. He finished with a massive winning percentage of 71.92%