Meet the captains leading their nations in World Cup 2015

New Delhi: With World Cup only a month away, teams are busy playing with each other to prepare for the mega sport event to be held in Australia and New Zealand, known for bouncy and fast tracks, from February 14.All the 14 participating nations are out with their 15-member squad and are raring to have a go at the World Champions.Skipper MS Dhoni will be leading a young Indian side to defend their 2011 title.India TV introduces you the 14 captains of World Cup 2015:1) MS Dhoni (India)Needless to say, the best ODI skipper India ever had who led the nation in historic ODI triumphs during his seven years tenure as a captain. MS Dhoni has every ICC title under his name; World T20 in 2007, World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013.Though he was criticized for his captaincy record in overseas tests due to which he retired from test cricket in the mid of Australia test series but ODIs are something different. Not to forget a 4-1 series win in England after 24 years in 2014.This year he will be leading a young side with no experienced players like Sehwag, Gambhir or Yuvraj to fall back upon though Virat Kohli, Rahane and Rohit are faces he can look up to.Dhoni didn't have a good run with the willow in WC 2011. He scored just 150 runs in first seven innings (except the final) but he promoted himself up in the order against Sri Lanka in the final ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh and amassed 91 runs off 79 balls to led his side to the title win with a long-on six.The kind of form Virat Kohli, Rahane and Rohit are in, he is once again ready to carry the hopes of 121 crore people.Their first encounter will be against the arch rivals Pakistan on February 15.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 166: Won 93, Lost 59, Tied 4, NR 10)Indian squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny and Umesh Yadav.2) Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)Misbah-ul-Haq after being criticized largely by the Pakistan cricket fraternity, he was declared as a skipper to lead his nation.Pakistan's recent ODI form has been really poor after losing 0-3 to Australia followed by 2-3 defeat against New Zealand in UAE.Misbah's individual performance has also been below par. He also skipped the third ODI against Australia after a deficit of 0-2 in a 3 ODI match series in October 2014. This raised apprehensions and serious doubts among the cricket experts over his captaincy.Pakistan has already left their match winner spin maestro Saeed Ajmal who failed to make it to the squad because of a suspected bowling action. All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez is too trying to battle it out with his bowling action and if he fails, he would be used just as a batsman. Despite all difficulties, Misbah is confident of their good show in WC and hope to change the Indo-Pak clashes history when they face India in their tournament opener.He scored 248 runs in 6 innings in 2011 with three half centuries.But with the world cup approaching in a month, he decided to quit ODI cricket after Pakistan finish with its campaign.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 78: Won 41, Lost 34, Tied 2, NR 1)Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz.3) Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)Sri Lanka have been unlucky in two back to back World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and finished on a losing side. But this year, young Angelo Mathews has taken up the responsibility to lead the side to their second world title.A robust batting technique, nagging consistency with the ball, and athleticism in the field, all set off by an imperturbable temperament, have made Angelo Mathews World's no. 1 ODI all-rounder and one of Sri Lanka's most prized assets and a figure on which the team hangs many hopesHe was the first batsman in 2014 to reach 1000 ODI runs followed by Virat Kohli.In May-June 2014, he led his side to 3-2 victory over England in their home.He would also look to give a perfect farewell gift to the veterans Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan who will be playing their last world cup.They will be up against New Zealand in their opening game on 14th February.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 57: Won 30, Lost 25, NR 2)Sri Lanka squad: Angelo Mathews (C), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Lahiru Thirimanna, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga (subject to fitness), Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senananayke, Dinmuth Karunaratne. 4) Eoin Morgan (England)Eoin Morgan's cool temperament and the tactical intelligence made him the most likely successor to Alastair Cook as ODI captain who was sacked by the ECB after England's dismal performance in two back to back series.A 1-4 series defeat against India at home, followed by 2-5 loss in Sri Lanka and Cook's poor run form led ECB to leave him off the World Cup squad and appoint Eoin Morgan as the new full-time ODI skipper. He will start his WC campaign against Australia on February 14 with a hope of their first World title.Morgan is recognized as a cricketer of rare unorthodox talent, who plays the ball exceptionally late and adroit both at sweeping and reverse sweeping.He was in the squad in 2011 as well but was unfortunately ruled out after he fractured his middle finger of left hand.He might be struggling with his run-form as well but he is certainly not the player England would risk to keep him out of the squad.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 67: Won 44, Lost 22, NR 3)England squad: Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.5) Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)Brash, brutal and brilliant to watch, Brendon McCullum can bruise bowling attacks like few other men in international cricket. A wicketkeeper-batsman, McCullum has been used throughout the New Zealand batting order, but whenever he arrives at the crease it's impossible to look away.New Zealand's recent home performance in both tests as well as ODI format has been very superior.In WC 2011, he was the third highest scorer for New Zealand with 256 runs in 8 matches after Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill.McCullum will lead the Kiwis in their tournament opener against the minnows Scotland on February 17.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 35: Won 16, Lost 16, Tied 1, NR 2)New Zealand squad: Brendon McCullum (C), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson.6) AB de Villiers (South Africa)A batsman of breathtaking chutzpah and enterprise, as well as the skills and the temperament required to back up his creative intent. A fielder able to leap tall buildings and still come up with the catch. A wicketkeeper who is perfectly at ease donning pads and gloves.De Villiers will be the Protea skipper whose main aim would be to win the ODI championship for the first time and remove the tag of “chokers” from them. In WC 2011, he was the 9th leading and South Africa's top run scorer with 353 runs in five matches two centuries and a half century.In the ODI series in Australia he was the leading scorer there as well with 271 runs in 4 matches with a strike rate of 113.38 and averages 67.75.He believes that his team has the capability to bring home the coveted World Cup trophy for the first time.South Africa has never won the World Cup, or even made a final, despite regularly boasting one of the world's top lineups.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 56: Won 31, Lost 21, Tied 1, NR 3)South Africa squad: AB de Villiers (C), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn7) Michael Clarke (Australia)Michael Clarke has been included in Australia's World Cup squad overcoming recent back injuries and hamstring surgery. However, he has been given until Feb. 21 to prove his fitness, at which time he could be replaced before Australia's second match in the tournament against Bangladesh in Brisbane.He had been struggling with injuries in 2014 which made him unable to play in test series against India as well.The 33-year-old, who has played 238 ODIs, had said that he is unlikely to be fit for Australia's World Cup opener against England at the MCG on February 14, which means he would not be fit for the warm-up matches either.Clarke will be playing his third world cup after 2007 and 2011 where he scored 436 runs in 9 innings and 233 runs in 6 innings respectively.He was ruled out in the mid of South Africa ODI series at home due to hamstring injury and could play just one match.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 67: Won 44, Lost 22, NR 3)Australia squad: Michael Clarke (C), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Xavier Doherty.8) Jason Holder (West Indies)In a strange move West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chose young Jason Holder (23) to lead the Caribbean side to regain their lost glory.Having experience of just 21 ODIs in which he has scalped 29 wickets with his an average of 28.65 since his debut in February 2013, he was given the command in place of Dwayne Bravo for the ODI series against South Africa.The decision came two months after West Indies pulled out of their tour to India with one ODI, one T20 and three Tests pending, due to a protracted disagreement between the players, the board and the players' association over the payment structure specified by the players' revised contracts. Bravo was on forefront when the three parties locked horns.Other major disappointments by WICB were excluding Omission of Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard from theie World Cup squad were the other WICB surprised decisions.The West Indies opens its World Cup campaign on Feb. 16 against Ireland in Nelson, New Zealand.West Indies squad: Jason Holder (C), Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.9) Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh)Veteran speedster Mashrafe Mortaza will lead a 15-member Bangladesh squad in the ICC World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.The team's No 1 ranked cricketer Shakib al Hasan will be Mortaza's deputy while the squad has rookie batsman Soumya Sarkar and fast bowler Taskin Ahmed.He was named as the ODI captain by Bangladesh's selectors for the series against Zimbabwe in October 2014. Although it was a one-off assignment, Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe 5-0 and hence the selectors have decided to persist with the 31-year-old veteran of 36 Tests and 144 ODIs.With senior opener Tamim Iqbal, former captain and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and seasoned batsman Mahmudullah also in the squad, it will be a fairly strong Bangladesh squad that will take on Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Scotland and Afghanistan in their group A league matches.Mashrafe rose to prominence in 2004, when he helped Bangladesh beat India for the first time. He became an overnight hero when his four-wicket haul destroyed India in the 2007 World Cup game at Port-of-Spain. Mashrafe's early strikes have always helped Bangladesh, none more so than in the 2009 tri-series final when he and Nazmul Hossain sunk Sri Lanka to a new low - six runs for five wickets.However he missed the 2011 World Cup due to a knee injury.Bangladesh squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taijul Islam.10) William Porterfield (Ireland)William Porterfield will captain Ireland at this year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, his third appearance in the sport's showpiece one-day tournament.The so-called minnows of cricket have produced some of the major upsets. Ireland first played in the World Cup in 2007 and beat Pakistan on the way to the Super Eight stage of the tournament.They beat England by three wickets in the 2011 tournament, Kevin O'Brien hitting the fastest century in World Cup history off 50 balls as Ireland chased down a record target of 329.In 70 ODIs he scored 2129 runs with the strike rate of 67.11 and averages 31.77. He also have 6 centuries and 10 half centuries under his name.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 48: Won 24, Lost 20, Tied 2, NR 2)Ireland squad: William Porterfield (C), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh , Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.11) Elton Chigumbura (Zimbabwe)Chigumbura took over as captain of the national side after Prosper Utseya's resignation in 2010. After some initial success - including leading Zimbabwe to the finals of a home tri-series including India and Sri Lanka - Chigumbura's own form fell away alarmingly and in June 2011 he was replaced as captain by Brendan Taylor. He was handed back the limited-overs captaincy in July 2014 as part of ZC's plan to split the leadership between him and Taylor.Under his captaincy, Zimbabwe also defeated Australia for the first time in September 2014 since 1983. The skipper played a major role after scoring an unbeaten half-century which led his team to a famous three-wicket win.He didn't had good form in Zimbabwe's recent series against Bangladesh in which he didn't had any success with the ball and bat apart from a half century.In 169 ODIs he scored 3390 runs at the strike rate of 81.31 and has a below par average of 24.92. He also has 96 ODI wickets under his name.(ODI captaincy record – Matches 32: Won 9, Lost 23)Zimbabwe squad: Elton Chigumbura (C), Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.12) Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)After leading his national side in Asia Cup 2014, Mohammad Nabi will again take charge of his boys in the forthcoming World Cup.The team failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, but did earn ODI status until 2013. In February 2010, the Afghan cricket team secured qualification to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, the team's first major tournament.Afghanistan secured their passage to Australia and New Zealand by beating Kenya comprehensively for the second time in succession in Sharjah in 2013, sealing their maiden World Cup qualification. They finished second in the World Cricket League Championship - nine wins in 14 matches - and joined Ireland as the second Associate team in the 2015 World Cup.The Afghan skipper is handy with both bat and ball. In 43 ODIs, he scored 1060 runs with the strike rate and average of 90.67 and 33.12 respectively. He also has 41 wickets in his pocket.Under his captaincy, Afghanistan also defeated Bangladesh, a test playing nation for the first time ever.Afghanistan is placed in Pool A at the World Cup along with Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Scotland.Afghanistan squad: Mohammad Nabi (C), Afsar Zazai, Aftab Alam, Asghar Stanekzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Javed Ahmadi, Merwais Ashraf, Najibullah Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shinwari, Shapoor Zadran, Usman Ghani.13) Preston Mommsen (Scotland)Preston Mommsen will chase a slice of history when he leads Scotland into their third World Cup campaign after Cricket Scotland named their squad of 15 to travel to Australia and New Zealand.After Kyle Coetzer flew home because of injury, the captaincy of Scotland at the World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand in 2014 fell to Preston Mommsen. It was a challenge to which he responded magnificently. Mommsen led the side enterprisingly in the absence of Kyle Coetzer, and hit 520 runs at 86.66 apiece from No 4, including 139* in Scotland's victory over UAE in the final.The upshot was that Mommsen was named the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year, and, even after Coetzer's return, was confirmed as Scotland's captain for the 2015 World Cup.Scotland will play at least six matches during the tournament, opening their Pool A campaign with a sold-out clash against co-hosts New Zealand in Dunedin on February 17. England will be next up in Christchurch on February 23 before the Scots return to Dunedin three days later to face Afghanistan.Former England allrounder Paul Collingwood will be part of their coaching staff having also been involved for the qualifying tournament in February.Scotland squad: Preston Mommsen (C), Kyle Coetzer, Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Gordon Goudie, Michael Leask, Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Freddie Coleman, Matthew Cross, Hamish Gardiner, Majid Haq, Matt Machan, Safyaan Sharif, Rob Taylor, Iain Wardlaw.14) Mohammad Tauqir (United Arab Emirates – UAE)43- year old Mohammed Tauqir was named as the captain of the United Arab Emirates squad for the World Cup replacing Pakistan-born Khurram Khan at the helm.The UAE will be playing at the World Cup for the first time since 1996 and have been drawn in Pool B alongside defending champions India, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland.Tauqir has represented the UAE in 50 international matches, including five ODIs -- against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka (twice).One of his finest knocks in One Day Internationals was in his debut match in the 2004 Asia Cup against India (at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium). He cracked a fighting 55 runs off 73 balls and took one wicket from his allotted 10-overs.UAE team will start the World Cup tour with two warm-up games against Australia and Afghanistan on February 11 and 13 in Melbourne. In the World Cup, they will face Zimbabwe, Ireland, India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies from February 19 till March 15.UAE squad: Mohammad Tauqir (C), Khurram Khan, Amjad Ali, Andri Berrneger, Shaimon Anwar, Swapnil Patil, Amjad Javed, Rohan Mustafa, Krishna Karate, Mohammed Naved, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Saqlain Haider, Nasir Aziz, Fahad Al Hashimi.

Meet the captains leading their nations in World Cup 2015

New Delhi: With World Cup only a month away, teams are busy playing with each other to prepare for the mega sport event to be held in Australia and New Zealand, known for bouncy and

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