Former Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth has recently revealed his favourite choice between the former successful Indian captains; Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni.
Both the former Indian captains Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni inspired the Indian team massively during their respective captaincy tenures. When the Indian cricket was fighting with full of controversies in the early 2000s, Ganguly handled the Indian team and guided to the successful path in international cricket.
On the other hand, when the Indian team was going through the leadership crisis in 2007, Dhoni took that baton and set the remarkable growth for the Indian team in international cricket.
While captain Ganguly won 21 Tests out of his 49 Tests, Dhoni-led India won 27 Tests out of 60 Test matches. As a Test captain, Dhoni had the success rate of 45% while Ganguly had the success rate of 42.85%.
It’s a very, very difficult comparison: Krishnamachari Srikkanth
Srikkanth feels very tough to choose between captain Ganguly and Dhoni. While Ganguly-led Indian team beat the most successful Australian side in the 2001 home Test series and that too fighting from the behind in that series, captain Dhoni had a long impact in the home Test matches.
However, Srikkanth felt that captain Ganguly got a big help of the legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Meanwhile, Srikkanth also believes that captain Dhoni didn’t get that benefit but still achieve massive success at home. That’s why the 1983 World Cup-winning member gives the vote to captain Dhoni.
Srikkanth said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected, “It’s a very, very difficult comparison. In the 2001 series against Australia, I think Sourav Ganguly was fantastic. Coming back and beating Steve Waugh’s side.
“But overall, who has had more impact in long home series? Definitely, I think MS Dhoni. Sourav had the benefit of having Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble while he was playing. Dhoni did not have that luxury. If you look at the home track record, definitely I think Dhoni was better.”
While Ganguly-led India won 28 home international matches, including 10 home Tests, Dhoni-led India won 74 home international matches, including 21 home Tests.
Former South African captain Graeme Smith also praised the former Indian captain, MS Dhoni. He lauded Dhoni’s cool and calm attitude on the field, which the former Proteas skipper never saw in any other captains in the cricket world.