Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni both were the successful Indian captains in their respective periods. Former Indian opening batsman and chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth has recently talked about the differences between the captain Ganguly and captain Dhoni.
MS Dhoni captained the Indian team in 332 international matches (2007-2018) while Sourav Ganguly played the captaincy role of the national team in 195 games (1999-2005). Though their success ratios may be widely different, it can’t show the actual picture. They had very different approaches in the team in two different generations, but both inspired their teams to reach the great levels in international cricket.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes that winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 boosted the skipper Dhoni’s confidence, who just started to lead the Indian limited-overs teams at that moment. According to Srikkanth, while Ganguly was an aggressive captain, Dhoni was totally opposite. Talking about Dhoni’s growth in leadership quality, Srikkanth also credited the Test captain Anil Kumble (2007-2008) who was leading the longer format side during Dhoni’s initial period as the Indian limited-overs captain.
Srikkanth recently told ANI, “When Dhoni was the captain in the 2007 T20 World Cup, he handled the side really well, the win boosted his confidence. He has always been calm and cool, he has motivated the players, aggressive culture was brought in by Sourav Ganguly, MS was totally opposite of that, when Kumble was the captain of the Test side, it was a good chance for Dhoni to learn. Anil gave him much-needed experience, Dhoni gave a lot of confidence to the players.”
Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India further won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and many other reputed trophies along with reaching on the no.1-spot in the Test team rankings.
Post MS Dhoni era, we have seen a lot of players from small towns making the cut: Krishnamachari Srikkanth
Srikkanth believes that MS Dhoni has played a crucial role in Indian cricket to the growth of the small towns’ players. The former Indian selector also believes that Virat Kohli is the right captain who can carry Dhoni’s legacy in the right way.
Srikkanth added, “When somebody like Dhoni made it to the national side, the powerhouses of Indian cricket started to change, a cricketer from Ranchi was a masterstroke, a zonal selector was watching cricket in the east and he saw something really special in Dhoni. He did not do something substantial in his first two matches and people wrote him off. But he played a 140 odd knock against Pakistan and it made Dhoni really confident.
“Post Dhoni era, we have seen a lot of players from small towns making the cut. This legacy will be very huge and it is a testament to Dhoni. The team was handed over in the right way to Virat.”
After taking up the leadership role of the national team in 2013, Kohli has already led the Indian team in 181 international matches.