10 Best knocks played by Indian Captains in ODI World Cup history

Indian cricketers have been one of the best performers at the ICC ODI World Cup tournaments. There have been instances such as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma topping the run-getting charts in the World Cup tournaments. Indian batters have been consistently scoring runs at the biggest stage of them all and many times, the captains have been leading the way. When a captain of a team scores runs and leads from the front, it motivates the other batters to do well too. With that in consideration, we look at 10 of the best knocks by Indian captains in ICC ODI World Cups from all editions. Here are the 10 Best Knocks Played by Indian Captains in ODI World Cup History: 10. MS Dhoni- 85* vs. Zimbabwe, 2015 World Cup MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Twitter) India and Zimbabwe met in the 2015 World Cup in Auckland. MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl first. Zimbabwe put on a good show with the bat, scoring 287 runs with Brendan Taylor scoring 138, a captain’s knock for his team. Sean Williams also scored a half-century for his side. In reply, the Indian top three couldn’t get a big score and at 92/4, the Men in Blue was in trouble. But then Suresh Raina (110*) and MS Dhoni got together to add 196* runs for the 5th wicket to take India home by 6 wickets. Dhoni played a captain’s innings, scoring 85* with 8 fours and 2 sixes, playing perfect foil to Suresh Raina. 9. Rohit Sharma- 86 vs. Pakistan, 2023 World Cup Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: twitter) India and Pakistan clashed in the recent ICC World Cup 2023 match in front of more than 130,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Despite 50 by skipper Babar Azam, Pakistan only managed 191 runs in total. Despite chasing a small target, India needed to get a flying start and skipper Rohit Sharma did the same. While Shubman Gill, his opening partner hammered 4 fours in his 16-run innings, Rohit scored 86 in just 63 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes. India managed to win the game in 30.3 overs by 7 wickets. 8. Rohit Sharma- 87 vs. England, 2023 World Cup Rohit Sharma vs. England, 2023 World Cup (Photo Source: Twitter) In the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, Rohit Sharma has been giving India flying starts at the top. But in the crucial game against England on a sluggish pitch in Lucknow, Rohit played a different knock. He took 101 balls to compile 87 runs with 10 fours and 3 sixes as the middle order failed to score. His knock took India to 229/9 and then Indian bowlers blew away England for 129 runs to win by 100 runs. Rohit’s ability to adapt to the slow surface and play a knock according to conditions was admirable and a sign of a good leader. 7. MS Dhoni – 91* vs. Sri Lanka, 2011 World Cup MS-Dhoni. (Photo Source: Twitter) This knock has been considered to be one of the best knocks by any Indian captain in ODI World Cup history. This MS Dhoni classic has been put right on the pedestal because it came in the all-important final of the 2011 World Cup tournament. After Gautam Gambhir (97) had done his job of securing a platform for India in the chase of 276 runs, Dhoni took over after his dismissal and along with Yuvraj Singh, absorbed the pressure in the final few overs that Sri Lanka exerted pressure. Dhoni got the winning runs by hitting a six and remained unbeaten on 91 as India became two-time World Champions and winner of the 2011 World Cup. 6. Mohammed Azharuddin- 93 vs. Australia, 1992 World Cup Mohammed Azharuddin- 93 vs. Australia, 1992 World Cup (Photo Source: Twitter) The 1992 World Cup was not a good outing for the Indian team as they managed to win just two matches in the tournament and failed to qualify for the league stage. Their wins came against Pakistan and Zimbabwe and had a one-no result against Sri Lanka due to rain. They could’ve had a huge win over defending champions Australia, if not for a close 1-run loss. Australia scored 237/9 batting first in Brisbane with Dean Jones scoring 90. For India, Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar took three wickets each. In reply, only two Indian batters could withstand the Australian bowlers with Sanjay Manjrekar making 47 and captain Mohammed Azharuddin hammering 93 with 10 fours. He took India within touching distance of the target, but in the end, the tailenders Javagal Srinath and Venkatapathy Raju failed to take three runs on the last ball to achieve the revised target of 236 runs, ending on 234. 5. Sourav Ganguly- 107* vs. Kenya, 2003 World Cup Sourav Ganguly- 107* vs. Kenya, 2003 World Cup (Photo Source: Twitter) Sourav Ganguly had an amazing outing in the ICC World Cup 2023, becoming one of the few batters at that time to hit three centuries in the tournament. He scored two centuries against Kenya and one against Namibia. His first century against Kenya came in the Super Six match in Cape Town. Chasing 226 runs, India lost Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Mohammad Kaif for single-digit scores. But Ganguly scored 107* with 11 fours and 2 sixes along with 32 from Rahul Dravid and 58* by Yuvraj Singh, took India to a 6-wicket win. 4. Sourav Ganguly- 111* vs. Kenya, 2003 World Cup Sourav Ganguly- 111* vs. Kenya, 2003 World Cup (Photo Source: Twitter) The second time India faced Kenya in the 2003 World Cup was in the semi-final of the tournament. This match was played in Durban. India chose to bat first and Sachin Tendulkar gave a grand start with an 83-run knock. Ganguly provided further impetus with 111* in 114 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes, as India posted 270/4. Kenya was never in the game chasing such a huge total in a crunch match and was bowled out for 179. India won by 91 runs and made it into their second World Cup final since 1983. 3. Sourav Ganguly- 112* vs. Namibia, 2003 World Cup Sourav Ganguly- 112* vs. Namibia, 2003 World Cup (Photo Source: Twitter) Sourav Ganguly’s highest score in the 2003 World Cup came in a run-fest against Namibia in Pietermaritzburg. India was asked to bat first and posted 311/2. Sachin Tendulkar made 152* with 18 fours, while Ganguly made merry with 112* with 6 fours and 4 sixes. Namibia only made 130 with Yuvraj Singh taking 4/6 and India won the match by 181 runs. Ganguly had equaled Mark Waugh’s record of scoring three centuries in a single edition of a World Cup. 2. Rohit Sharma- 131 vs. Afghanistan, 2023 World Cup Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: twitter) Rohit Sharma has been amazing for India and yet has not received the same credit Virat Kohli has got. On a two-paced surface in Delhi, Afghanistan had chosen to bat first against India in the 2023 World Cup match. They posted a formidable 272/8 in 50 overs with Hashmatullah Shahidi making 80 and Azmatullah Omarzai scoring 62. In response, Rohit Sharma took command of the chase along with Ishan Kishan, who made 47 and added 156 runs for the opening wicket in 19 overs. Sharma carried on this time and scored 131 in just 84 balls with 16 fours and 5 sixes. This was an excellent knock by Rohit, as he nullified the Afghan spin threat as Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman went wicketless. India won the match by 8 wickets. 1. Kapil Dev- 175* vs. Zimbabwe, 1983 World Cup Kapil dev. (Photo Source: ICC) The best knock by any Indian captain in ODI World Cup history came in the 1983 World Cup tournament and was played by Kapil Dev. Despite starting the tournament well with wins over West Indies and Australia, India in the second round of league stage, found themselves in a tough situation. They needed to defeat Zimbabwe to qualify for the semi-finals and at the Tunbridge Wells ground, Kapil Dev won the toss and chose to bat. Zimbabwe seamers took full advantage of whatever swing was present and reduced India to 78/7 in no time. Kapil Dev, who walked in to bat at no.6, then took charge after a sedate start. After lunch, when he resumed his innings, Kapil went for runs and in the end with 22 from Roger Binny and 24* by Syed Kirmani, helped India post 266/8 in 60 overs. Kapil himself scored a then-record highest individual ODI score of 175* in 138 balls with 16 fours and 6 huge sixes. This was also the first ODI century by any Indian and Kapil’s knock and Madan Lal and Roger Binny’s bowling helped India win by 31 runs and qualified for the semi-final.

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