MS Dhoni to Meg Lanning: Which Captain Won Most ICC Trophies?

Former Australian women’s cricketer Meg Lanning is the captain who has won the most ICC trophies. Widely regarded as the best women’s cricket player ever to play the sport, Lanning has led the Australian team to five ICC trophies. 

She is followed by compatriot Ricky Ponting, who is the only men’s cricket player to have won the World Cup consecutive times. Apart from the two Australians, players like former India cricket team captain MS Dhoni, and former West Indies skippers Clive Lloyd and Darren Sammy have also won multiple ICC trophies.

Meg Lanning | 5 ICC Trophies

There were hardly any doubts about Meg Lanning the player from the get-go. Debuting in 2011, Lanning had brought up her maiden century in just her second game as an 18-year-old, thus becoming the youngest cricketer ever to hit a ton.

Lanning soon dismissed her maiden century as a fluke as she kept scoring runs for fun and brought Australia’s fastest century the very next year in just 45 balls. The board was forced to elevate her to the captaincy level and Lanning’s first challenge was the 2014 World Twenty20. 

 Meg Lanning with ICC Women's T20 World Cup trophy//Getty Images

Despite her inexperience and tender age, Lanning went through the World Cup with exquisite ease, ending the tournament’s top scorer with 257 runs and also scoring the most runs in a single inning (126 runs against Ireland). As if it wasn’t enough, Lanning scored a World Cup final century to lead the side to a T20 World Cup title. 

Lanning entered the 2017 Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup as the best batter with Australia as the favourite, but her injury saw the side exit in the semi-finals. That was pretty much Lanning’s only setback in ICC tournaments as she returned to lead the national team to three more T20 World Cup titles -  2018, 2020 and 2023 - and one ODI World Cup trophy in 2022.

Ricky Ponting | 4 ICC Trophies

Ricky Ponting had promising returns for the Australian team when he made his World Cup debut in 1999 under Steve Waugh's captaincy. He would go on to win three consecutive World Cups (1999, 2003, and 2007), the last two as the side’s captain. 

Ponting led from the front in all the World Cups he featured in, amassing 1743 runs in 43 innings, averaging 45.87 and scoring at a strike rate of 79.95. He has six half-centuries and five centuries in ICC’s biggest tournament apart from taking 28 catches over 40 matches. He won less than 50% of the tosses in World Cups but still won 26 of the 29 matches he captained. He was adjudged the Man of the Match on three occasions.

Ricky Ponting with the 1999 and 2003 World Cup trophies//Getty Images

During his tenure as Australian captain, Ponting had a habit of winning ICC trophies that trickled down beyond the four-yearly ODI World Cup tournament. He also led the Kangaroos at the 2006 and 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, where Australia won 14 of the 19 matches under Ponting’s captaincy.

Australia’s first-ever ICC Champions Trophy title came under Ponting’s captaincy in 2006 and he defended the title in 2009 as well. As the captain, Ponting tallied 453 runs in 14 ICC Champions Trophy matches, averaging 37.75 at a strike rate of 78.56 with three half-centuries to his name.

MS Dhoni | 3 ICC Trophies

India’s most successful captain who enjoys an almost God status in the cricket-crazy nation, MS Dhoni has three ICC trophies to his name in seven years. Dhoni had first turned heads during the 2007 World T20 tournament when he led a relatively young side to the title in South Africa, defeating the mighty Australia on the way. It had signalled the advent of India’s new era in world cricket in the same year when the ODI team, consisting of veterans, had a nightmarish 2007 ODI World Cup outing.

Dhoni would follow that up with the 2011 ODI World Cup title that was hosted in India. His best innings in any World Cup came in the finale when he stayed unbeaten to take India home at the Wankhede Stadium. He had delivered India the World Cup after 28 years since Kapil Dev had won the 1983 World Cup. 

Mahendra Sing Dhoni//Getty Images

The wicketkeeper-batsman has played 25 World Cup matches accumulating 780 runs with an average of 43.33 and scored runs at a strike rate of 89.97. He has five half-centuries in tne tournament and has taken 34 catches from behind the stumps. 

ICC Champions Trophy was the only feather missing from his hat and Dhoni achieved it in 2013 in England by defeating the hosts in the finale. He has led India in 12 ICC Champions Trophy matches winning seven games in the process. Under his leadership, the Men in Blue remained unbeaten in the 2013 edition as Dhoni became the second captain after Sourav Ganguly to win the ICC Champions Trophy.

Clive Lloyd | 2 ICC Trophies

The first captain in cricket to exhibit world dominance by winning by the 1975 and 1979 World Cup titles, Clive Lloyd is credited to captain a side that had multiple superstars starting from Sir Viv Richards and Alvin Kalicharran to Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall. The Men in Maroon needed a solid leader to prevail with such talented squads and Lloyd delivered just that.

West Indies had also reached the 1983 World Cup final as the unquestionable favourites before Kapil Dev’s men pulled off the upset of the decade. Lloyd could play only 11 World Cup innings, where he tallied 393 runs with an average of 43.67. An aggressive left-handed batter, Lloyd scored at a strike rate of 84.88, which was tremendous given how cricket was played in the 70s and 80s. Lloyd has two half-centuries and one century in the tournament. 

Darren Sammy | 2 ICC Trophies

Darren Sammy will forever be etched as a West Indian legend for his achievements in the T20 World Cups. Sammy still remains the only captain to win consecutive T20 WC titles as he led West Indies to ICC titles in the 2023 and 2016. What makes Sammy’s achievements so special is his ability to bring in a winning mentality in the cricket nation that was once world-beaters.

Prior to the 2012 T20 World Cup title and after the 1983 ODI World Cup , West Indies had stopped being contenders for any ICC trophies whatsoever. Despite producing players like Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Carl Hooper, Curtly Ambrose, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo anbd many more, the West Indies side had failed to win any ICC trophy.

 Darren Sammy, Captain of the West Indies//Getty Images

It changed under all-rounder Darren Sammy. He played in 18 T20 World Cup matches, where he scored 215 runs and took 11 wickets in the process. But most importantly, he managed to bring out the best from players like Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuel and eventually Carlos Brathwaite. Since 2016, West Indies has failed to any ICC Trophy.