Former Indian batter Rahul Dravid picked the best international captain by a Winner Stays On format ahead of the 2026 Afghanistan-India T20I series (via Cricinfo YouTube channel). Surprisingly, Dravid picked against Virat Kohli in a later round, choosing former Pakistan captain Imran Khan over Kohli.
In the first few rounds, Dravid picked former Australian captain Steve Smith over Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Arjuna Ranatunga, Graeme Smith, Stephen Fleming, Michael Clarke, Eoin Morgan and Pat Cummins. Steve Smith boasts an excellent record as Australian captain, winning 62 out of 117 matches across formats.
However, Dravid went for another former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, over Smith in the next round. Ponting led Australia to back-to-back ODI World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007 and finished with an incredible captaincy record of 220 wins in 324 outings.
While Dravid picked Ponting over one of his Australian predecessors, Allan Border, the Indian legend picked Steve Waugh over Ponting in the following round. Waugh captained Australia to their second ODI World Cup title in 1999 and boasted an excellent overall captaincy record of 108 wins in 163 matches.
Dravid picked Virat Kohli over Steve Waugh in the following round, thanks to Kohli’s brilliant record of 135 wins in 213 games as India’s captain. However, Kohli lasted only one more round as Dravid went for Imran Khan in the subsequent round. Kohli was the first-ever Indian captain to taste success in a Test series in Australia in 2018/19.
Yet, Imran famously led Pakistan to their lone ODI World Cup glory in 1992, while winning 89 of his 187 overall games as captain.
Rahul Dravid picks another Indian captain as the greatest of all-time
Imran Khan’s success lasted only one round, as Rahul Dravid picked another former Indian captain, MS Dhoni, over the Pakistan legend. Dhoni is the most successful captain in international cricket, winning 178 out of 332 matches.
Dhoni also led India to three ICC white-ball titles from 2007 to 2013. He also led India to the No.1 ranking in Tests in the late 2000s.
In the final round, Dravid picked Dhoni over former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd, who helped the West Indies win the first two ODI World Cups in 1975 and 1979. Lloyd also boasted an incredible overall captaincy record with 100 wins in 158 matches.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
