Winning the World Cup as a captain is the dream of every player who leads his nation at the international level. The International Cricket Council conducts the 50-over World Cup once every four years, while the T20 WC happens once in every two years.
Almost every member of the cricket universe rates WC as the biggest tournament for a player to prove himself. While the WC is the grandest international tournament in cricket, the Indian Premier League is the biggest T20 cricket league in the world at the moment.
So far in the entire cricket history, MS Dhoni is the only captain who has won the WC and the Indian Premier League as a captain. Here’s a list of four such WC winning captains who led a team in the IPL but never lifted the trophy.
1. 2-time World Cup winning captain – Darren Sammy
Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy had brilliant leadership skills. Under his captaincy, West Indies won the ICC T20 WC in the years 2012 and 2016. Sammy led Sunrisers Hyderabad team in IPL but never won the title.
2. 2021 T20 World Cup winning captain – Aaron Finch
Former Australian cricket team captain Aaron Finch led his nation to their first-ever T20 WC title in the year 2021. Before leading Australia, Finch captained the Pune Warriors team in the IPL, but he did not have a good record.
3. Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan led the England cricket team to their maiden title win in the 2019 WC. Morgan later became the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He led KKR to the final in 2021, but KKR lost against the Chennai Super Kings in that game.
4. Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting led the Australian team to multiple championship wins. He is regarded by many as one of the best captains of all time. Ponting captained Mumbai Indians in 2013. While MI won the trophy in 2013, Ponting had already handed over the reins of the team to Rohit Sharma midway in the season.
