Former Afghanistan cricket team skipper Asghar Afghan holds the distinction of being the most successful T20I captain. During his seven-year stint as captain, the middle-order batter won 42 of his 52 T20I matches while losing just nine.
His win percentage of 81.73 is best among the players who captained more than 40 matches for their team.
The honour of captaining his side was presented to Afghan for the first time on July 9, 2015. From that point on, he went to lead his side for 46 successive T20I matches, which is the current record for most consecutive matches as captain in the shortest format.
From 2019 onwards, Afghan’s captaincy was marred by troubling management decisions which forced him to quit the sport. However, despite retiring in 2021, he still remains the most successful T20I captain of all time.
Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan, who holds the record for playing most T20I matches as captain in the shortest format (72) alongside India’s MS Dhoni, comes second in the list with 42 wins in 72 T20Is.
Morgan’s tenure as a captain lasted for 10 years. Between 2012-2022, the hard-hitting batter lost just 27 of his 72 T20I matches as he ended his career with a win record of 60.56 per cent.
Next up in the list is the legendary Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni, who won a total of 41 of his 72 T20I matches as skipper. Dhoni, who led India to as many as three ICC titles, namely, the 2007 World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, lost only 28 T20I matches as he finished with a win percentage of 59.28.
Dhoni has several other records in the shortest format too. He holds the joint record for most dismissals in a T20I innings by a wicket-keeper (5), most catches in a T20I innings (5) and most stumpings in T20I cricket (34).
Interestingly, Aghar Afghan, Eoin Morgan and MS Dhoni are the only players to record more than 40 wins in the shortest format as captains, as the top five list is completed by the likes of Aaron Finch (35 wins) and Virat Kohli (30 wins).
Most successful T20I captains: Know them all
| Player | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Win% |
| Asghar Afghan | Afghanistan | 52 | 42 | 9 | 81.73 |
| Eoin Morgan | England | 72 | 42 | 27 | 60.56 |
| MS Dhoni | India | 72 | 41 | 28 | 59.28 |
| Aaron Finch | Australia | 65 | 35 | 27 | 56.34 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 50 | 30 | 16 | 64.58 |
| Sarfaraz Ahmed | Pakistan | 37 | 29 | 8 | 78.37 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 35 | 29 | 6 | 82.85 |
| Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 57 | 29 | 26 | 52.67 |
| Darren Sammy | West Indies | 47 | 27 | 17 | 61.11 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 41 | 26 | 10 | 72.22 |
Featured photo: AFP / Indranil Mukherjee
