World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni has edged past current BCCI honcho and former India skipper as India’s greatest captain, in a cricketing survey carried out the find out the best Indian cricket captain in the sporting history. The survey enlisted 8 parameter on which they were judged and MS brushed past Dada by a whisker.
MS Dhoni gained more points in the four categories of captaincy at home, ODI captaincy, titles won and performance as a batsman while leading the side while Ganguly scored better in four categories – captaincy Away from Home, transformational effects of captaincy on the team, the success of team handed over to the next captain and overall impact on team.
The result was announced on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show after Dhoni and Ganguly were judged across a number of captaincy parameters.
MS Dhoni emerged victorious after earning half a point more than Sourav Ganguly when the results of each category were totaled together. However, the difference in points between the two greats came down to decimals.
The most closely contested categories were batting record as captain, the teams the two left behind, and overall impact, with Dhoni nicking the first category and Ganguly edging him out in the other two.
Among the former players who voted in the poll were former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and former India openers Gautam Gambhir and Kris Srikkanth. Here’s what they have to say on why they voted how they voted.
Dhoni was declared winner as he earned half a point more than Ganguly when the results of each category were tallied together.
Transforming teams: Ganguly (8.6) beats Dhoni (7.3)
ODI captaincy: Dhoni (8.1) beats Ganguly (6.8)
Away Test wins: Ganguly (7.2) beats Dhoni (5.5)
Teams left behind: Ganguly (7.8) beats Dhoni (7.6)
Achievements as a captain: Dhoni (8.5) beats Ganguly (7.2)
Batting record as captain: Dhoni (7.8) beats Ganguly (7.4)
Overall impact: Ganguly (8.1) beats Dhoni (7.9)
Former cricketers like Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan and Kris Srikkanth participated in the survey to decide India’s greatest captain.
Gambhir was of the opinion that Ganguly gave India more world-beaters than Dhoni.
PNN/Agencies
