MS Dhoni is the most successful ODI captain of India. The former skipper won a whopping 110 of his 200 ODI matches as captain between 2007-2018. The wicket-keeper batsman is, in fact, the only Indian captain to record more than 100 wins in the 50-over format. He did so at a win percentage of 59.52.
Dhoni, who sits second in the list of most successful ODI captains, took over the reins of ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2007. In the following year, he led the Indian cricket team to its first-ever bilateral ODI series victory in Sri Lanka and there was no looking back since.
In 2009, a year after being bestowed with the Padma Shri award, Dhoni led India to its first bilateral ODI series victory in New Zealand. The highlight of his captaincy tenure, however, came in 2011 when he played a match-winning knock against Sri Lanka to help India lift the ICC World Cup after 28 years.
During his 11-year stint as ODI captain, Dhoni scored 6641 runs at an average of 53.55 and remained unbeaten on 48 occasions. Under his guidance, the team lost 74 ODIs.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Azharuddin holds the record for being the second most successful ODI captain of India. The middle-order batter was in command of the 50-over team between 1990-1999, winning 90 of his 174 matches as captain. Sourav Ganguly sits third in the list after having won 76 of the 146 ODI matches as captain.
Virat Kohli, on the other hand, finds his name in the fourth spot after winning 65 of his 95 One-Day Internationals as a skipper. During Kohli’s tenure, Team India won the bilateral ODI series in Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. As the ODI captain, Kohli amassed 5449 runs in 91 innings at an impressive average of 72.65. He has smashed 21 tons and 27 fifties. Only former Australia cricket team captain Ricky Ponting (22) has registered more hundreds as captain in ODIs than Kohli.
Kohli, in fact, has the best win percentage (70.43) among the Indian captains who have won at least 10 matches as skippers.
Most successful ODI captain of India
| Player | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Win % |
| MS Dhoni | 2007-2018 | 200 | 110 | 75 | 59.52 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 174 | 90 | 76 | 54.16 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 1999-2005 | 146 | 76 | 65 | 53.90 |
| Virat Kohli | 2013-2021 | 95 | 65 | 27 | 70.43 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2000-2007 | 79 | 42 | 33 | 56.00 |
| Kapil Dev | 1982-1987 | 74 | 39 | 33 | 54.16 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 73 | 23 | 43 | 35.07 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 1980-1985 | 37 | 14 | 21 | 40.00 |
| Dilip Vengsarkar | 1987-1989 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 44.44 |
| Ajay Jadeja | 1998-1999 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 61.53 |
Featured photo: AFP / Alexander Joe
