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Most Losses as Captain in ODI

This article provides a detailed analysis of the most frequent losses by captains in One Day Internationals, highlighting significant leadership records and loss percentages across cricket history.

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Most ODI Losses as Captains

Captain	Team	Matches	Lost	Won	Tied	No Result	Loss%
Stephen Fleming	New Zealand	218	106	98	1	13	48.62%
Arjuna Ranatunga	Sri Lanka	193	95	89	1	8	49.22%
Mohammad Azharuddin	India	174	76	90	2	6	43.68%
MS Dhoni	India	200	74	110	5	11	37.00%
Allan Border	Australia	178	67	107	1	3	37.64%
Sourav Ganguly	India	147	66	76	0	5	44.90%
Imran Khan	Pakistan	139	59	75	1	4	42.45%
Brian Lara	West Indies	125	59	59	0	7	47.20%
William Porterfield	Ireland	113	55	50	2	6	48.67%
Jason Holder	West Indies	86	54	24	2	6	62.79%
Alistair Campbell	Zimbabwe	86	52	30	2	2	60.47%
Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	106	51	49	1	5	48.11%
Ricky Ponting	Australia	230	51	165	2	12	22.17%
Graeme Smith	South Africa	150	51	92	1	6	34.00%
Assad Vala	Papua New Guinea	64	51	12	1	0	79.69%

Key Insights on Most Defeats for Captains in ODI Cricket

Career Loss Records and High-Volume Captaincy Defeats

New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming has lost the most matches as a captain in ODIs, having suffered 106 defeats in 218 matches.

Stephen Fleming suffered 30 of his defeats against Australia, the most by a skipper against a single team in ODIs.

Stephen Fleming (22 vs South Africa) and Arjuna Ranatunga (27 vs Pakistan & 21 vs India) are the two skippers to lose 20 or more matches against two opponents each in ODIs.

Sachin Tendulkar has lost the most ODIs as a captain in a calendar year, having conceded 23 defeats as India’s skipper in 1997.

See which team has won a most number of ODI games in a year, here.

Home and Overseas Captaincy Loss Statistics

Allan Border lost 42 of his 67 matches in Australia, the most by a captain at home in ODIs.

MS Dhoni conceded 39 of his 74 defeats at the home of the opposition, marking the most overseas losses by a captain in ODIs.

See where Dhoni stands in the captain’s list of most ODI wins, here.

Consecutive Defeats and Team Losing Streaks

Assad Vala has lost the most matches in a row in ODIs, suffering 18 consecutive defeats while leading Papua New Guinea (PNG) from mid-August 2019 to mid-March 2022.

PNG’s 18 consecutive losses are the joint-third most by a team in ODIs.

Bangladesh have conceded the most defeats in a row, with their streak stretching to 23 losses. Bangla tigers are also the side which has the lone record of losing 21 straight Test matches.

Worst Loss Percentage and Stand-In Captaincy Performance

Shane Warne has the lowest loss percentage as a captain in ODIs (minimum 10 matches), losing just one of the 11 matches as Australia’s stand-in skipper, a loss percentage of 9.09.

Bangladesh’s Khaled Mahmud has the worst loss percentage as a captain in ODIs (minimum 10 matches). Bangladesh lost each of the 15 matches under his leadership in 2003, resulting in a loss percentage of 100. Mahmud is also the player with the worst loss percentage in ODIs. More than 88% of matches he played for Bangladesh ended in his team’s defeats.

Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza is the other skipper with zero wins among captains who’ve led in at least 10 ODIs, suffering 24 defeats in 25 matches (one no result), with a loss percentage of 96.

Saurabh Chede

Saurabh is a cricket enthusiast who crafts content around the sport. Being from a cricket-crazy nation, he developed an unbreakable bond with the sport. When he's not watching cricket, you'll find him creating funny memes or watching old TMKOC episodes!