THE LIST: Sport's greatest captains, Nos 50-41

27 July 2009 09:28
There's more to being a captain than pulling on an armband and barking out a few orders. It takes a special kind of sportsman to lead the troops by example and no two skippers are the same. Who doesn't remember a composed Bobby Moore strolling through matches for England or fiery Scot Billy Bremner taking games and opponents by the scruff of the neck? In our latest list we pay homage to the natural born leaders in the sports we love. And as always we want to know what you think. 50 Sam Torrance The man from Largs in Scotland captained the successful European Ryder Cup team of 2002. 49 Mohammad Azharuddin In charge of the successful Indian Test side of the 90's, and led the ODI side on 173 occasions with a 54 per cent win percentage. 48 Andy Farrell Farrell won five Championships and four challenge Cups with Wigan, picking up the 1998 Super League and 2002 Challenge Cup as captain. 47 Brian O'Driscoll Won the Triple Crown in 2004, 2006 and 2007 plus Ireland's first Grand Slam in 61 years in last season's Six Nations. Captained Leinster to two league titles and one European Cup. 46 Diego Maradona Much to every Englishman's chagrin, he led Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986 with a flurry of goals ... and a little help from the 'Hand of God.' 45 Graeme Smith The South African incumbent captained the Proteas on their first successful tour of Australia last year. 44 Will Carling Led the renaissance of English rugby during the 1990s, seeing them to back-to-back Five Nations Grand Slam victories (1991, 1992), and the final of the 1991 World Cup. He also led them to a 1995 Grand Slam. 43 Bill Beaumont Won a highly unlikely Grand Slam as captain with England in 1980 and became the first English captain of the Lions since 1930 in the same year. 42 Bernard Gallacher Captain of the European Ryder Cup Team in 1991, 1993 and 1995. All three of those matches were very close; Europe lost the first two but won the third. 41 Didier Deschamps The former Chelsea midfielder led the greatest France side in history, winning the World Cup and European Championships within the space of two years.

Source: Daily_Mail