Cricket is a team game, but the captain makes those hard decisions and steers his team to a victory or carries the burden of a defeat during the post-match conference. Throughout history, the captains who picked up the World Cup trophies have been influential figures. Imran Khan, Clive Loyld, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, and Ricky Ponting are among the few who are prominent names.
Check: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023
This article will show the list of Cricket World Cup captains this time. One of them will lift that trophy and engrave his name in the annals of cricketing history.
Cricket World Cup 2023 Captains
These are the captains this time. We will have a brief look at their profiles one by one.
| NAME | COUNTRY |
|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | India |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan |
| Dasun Shanaka | Sri Lanka |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh |
| Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan |
| Pat Cummins | Australia |
| Jos Buttler | England |
| Kane Williamson | New Zealand |
| Temba Bavuma | South Africa |
| Scott Edwards | Netherlands |
Rohit Sharma
The stylish ODI batter Rohit Sharma has a long career to back him up as a skipper. He has been part of numerous ICC events for India so far. This time, he will captain the team. Will he be able to lift the trophy and fulfil the expectations of more than a billion cricket fans in his country?
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Live Streaming
Here are some of his stats.
| Matches | 251 |
| Runs | 10112 |
| Average | 48 |
| 100s | 30 |
| 50s | 52 |
Babar Azam
Babar has been a blessing for the struggling batting lineup. Pakistan needed a batsman like Babar who could score runs consistently and be someone the fans and the team can rely on in the hour of need.
In such a short time, he has broken so many records. He is eyeing to break the record for the most ODI hundreds for his country in world cups and the world cups.
| Matches | 108 |
| Runs | 5409 |
| Average | 58 |
| 100s | 19 |
| 50s | 28 |
Dasun Shanaka
Shanaka will captain his side this time in the World Cup. The Sri Lankan side has been struggling since the retirement of their senior cricketers, and players like Chandimal and Mathews have not been in top form.
Read: ICC World Cup Schedule 2023 PDF Download |Men’s one Day World Cup
However, they qualified for the World Cup, unbeaten in the Qualifiers. They also played in the Asia Cup 2023 finals.
| Matches | 67 |
| Runs | 1204 |
| Wickets | 27 |
| 100s | 2 |
| 50s | 3 |
Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib is the best all-rounder in the world so far. And it makes sense if the BCB made him the captain of the squad. His left-arm spin will help Bangladesh a lot. His support in the middle-order can boost the strike rate and the team’s score. He is a proper allrounder; many like him are left in international cricket.
| Matches | 240 |
| Runs | 7384 |
| Average | 37 |
| Wickets | 308 |
| Economy rate | 4.44 |
| 100s | 9 |
| 50s | 55 |
Hashmatullah Shahidi
Shahidi will lead the Afghanistan side this ODI World Cup. With players like Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan in the team, he is the skipper. This should tell you about his leadership skills. He doesn’t have the big numbers to back him up. But his recent form has been great. You need confidence in a skipper the most.
| Matches | 64 |
| Runs | 1775 |
| Average | 32 |
| Highest score | 97* |
| 50s | 16 |
Pat Cummins
You can say that Pat was always a leader. Soon after Tim announced his retirement from cricket, he took the role of the skipper and retained the Ashes series. After that, he won numerous matches. As a player, his pace bowling has won the Aussies many matches. He was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2020.
| Matches | 77 |
| Wickets | 126 |
| Economy rate | 5.23 |
| 4-fers | 6 |
| 5-fers | 1 |
Jos Buttler
Buttler is one of the most exciting batters in modern cricket. His aggressive approach has won his teams a lot of matches. But as a skipper, he has been pretty great. Especially in T20Is, his performance has been phenomenal. But this is an ODI World Cup. Will we see the same form from him? Here are some of his ODI numbers to clear the thoughts.
| Matches | 169 |
| Runs | 4823 |
| Average | 41 |
| 100s | 11 |
| 50s | 25 |
Kane Williamson
Williamson’s luck isn’t on his side so far. Being one of the best cricketers in modern history, fans always waited for him at the crease. However, he got injured before this year’s IPL. He recovered just recently, but he is not the same Kane anymore. It will take some time to get his Mojo back. He also missed the opening game against the English team. Tom Latham led the side in his absence.
| Matches | 161 |
| Runs | 6554 |
| Average | 47 |
| 100s | 13 |
| 50s | 42 |
Temba Bavuma
Bavuma has emerged as one of the finest South African batters. His finesse and the choice of shots have earned him a lot of runs. Among all the captains, he may have less experience. However, those matches and numbers are enough to show his capabilities. You may also remember him sleeping during ICC’s Captains’ day event. Good times!
| Matches | 30 |
| Runs | 1367 |
| Average | 54 |
| 100s | 5 |
| 50s | 4 |
Scott Edwards
Edwards successfully pulled his team to the ICC World Cup after 12 years. Winning against the big teams like West Indies wasn’t easy. However, the team game was at the top, and the centrepiece had to be the skipper. Edward’s performance is crucial to the Netherlands. It will be interesting to see his skills as a captain in this tournament.
| Matches | 38 |
| Runs | 1212 |
| Average | 40 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 50s | 13 |
Final words
The captain plays a vital role in the performance of the team. The decisions made on the field will decide the fate of the match. Yes, it is a team game. However, there must be a centre everyone can look up to when shit hits the fan. That is why these skippers have to show the nerves of steel during the matches.
Stay tuned for updates, highlights, and live streaming updates this Cricket World Cup.