Virender Sehwag has weighed Sourav Ganguly over MS Dhoni in captaincy, saying the former taught India how to win abroad.
Indian cricket has been blessed with some of the finest captains there ever have been. From Kapil Dev to Virat Kohli, there have been a number of leaders who have contributed immensely towards the growth of the sport.
Virender Sehwag Feels Captaincy Wise Both MS Dhoni And Sourav Ganguly Were Great But The Best Was Sourav Ganguly For He Taught India To Win Tests Abroad
Virender Sehwag, who has played under some brilliant leaders, picked the better one between Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Both Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni made significant contributions to Indian cricket.
While Sourav Ganguly took the Indian team to the 2003 ICC World Cup final, MS Dhoni won three ICC titles during his days at the helm. Though there’s no denying that MS Dhoni tops the charts of all India captains when it comes to success at major tournaments, Virender Sehwag feels current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was the better one of the two.
“I feel captaincy-wise, both of them were great. But I feel the best amongst the two was Ganguly because he built the team from the onset, took in new players, and rebuilt a unit. He taught India to win matches abroad, we drew Test matches, won some abroad under him,” the former India cricketer said on RJ Raunak’s YouTube show “13 Jawab Nahi”.
“Dhoni was lucky in the sense that he got the same team to lead that Ganguly had nurtured, so they both were great but better was Sourav Ganguly,” he added.
MS Dhoni announced his retirement from all forms of International Cricket on 15th December 2020. He retired as the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (2011 ODI World Cup, 2007 T20 World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy). MS Dhoni played his last game in the Indian colors in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Unfortunately, India lost the game to New Zealand and was eliminated from the competition. He had made his debut for Team India back in 2004. On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly’s Test debut came at Lord’s. The left-hander made the world sit up and take notice of his skills with a spectacular hundred on debut against England in 1996. 6 years later, Sourav Ganguly led India to a famous tri-series win in the Natwest series, this time as skipper.
Virender Sehwag Also Opened Up On Not Taking Single On Sri Lanka’s Tour In 2008 And Favourite Ground Being Mohali
Virender Sehwag is known to reach some of the major milestones in his career with a six. Often in the 90s, Virender Sehwag would hit a six to complete his century. However, once batting on 199, he refused to take a single. Shedding light on the matter during the conversation with RJ Raunak, Virender Sehwag revealed the reason behind his decision.
“This is a very old tale. We were on Sri Lanka’s tour in 2008. I remember Muttiah Muralitharan was bowling and I had Ishant Sharma at the non-striker’s end. I knew that if I take a single, Muralitharan would dismiss Ishant, so I decided to farm the strike and save Ishant. But Muralitharan placed all the fielders close by, and luckily the ball went in the gap and we took a single on the last ball. Ishant did not survive too long after that and was dismissed in the very next over.”
During the chat, the former opener also revealed his favorite ground to be Mohali in Chandigarh.
“I have always loved Mohali. I always enjoyed playing there. Whenever I used to step out at that venue, I felt I will score runs for sure. Also, there are huge sofas there, so even if you get dismissed, just go back and relax on those sofas. Outside India, I like Melbourne. The food there is great, and even at that venue I felt like I would be able to score many runs,” he revealed.
In a career spanning over 14 years, Virender Sehwag reinforced Team India’s top-order across formats. Following his first few years, he became the mainstay opener in all three formats alongside Gautam Gambhir. In 104 Tests, he racked up 8,586 runs at a terrific average of 49.34, including 23 tons. He also registered 8,273 ODI and 394 T20I runs in his career.
Virender Sehwag is one of the four cricketers (Don Bradman, Chris Gayle, and Brian Lara) in the world to have slammed two triple hundreds in Test cricket. Notably, he is the only Indian to do so. He recorded his first triple ton (309) against Pakistan in the famous Multan Test of 2004. Four years later, he registered his second (319) against South Africa in Chennai.