Sourav 'Dada' Ganguly vs ‘Captain Cool’ Dhoni: Who’s the better leader? (Part 2)

Dhoni has inculcated a democratic set-up in the dressing room, encouraging players to voice their opinion, which has helped the confidence of the youngsters in the team

Despite all these failures, “Mahi’s” captaincy record is simply phenomenal. Winning all three major ICC tournaments is no small feat. People say that he took over a team brought up by Ganguly, but while Ganguly had players like Sachin, Dravid, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Kumble et al. in his ranks, Dhoni has youngsters like Raina, Kohli, Dhawan and Jadeja at his disposal.

A player like Gautam Gambhir, who made his debut in 2004, and the newest sensation Kohli have both flourished under Dhoni. True, when India lifted the World Cup in 2011, players who played under Dada, played integral roles in the triumph. But how can you ignore the contributions of the youngsters-Virat’s debut World Cup century, Raina’s cameo against Pakistan and Gambhir’s 97 in the final and to top it up, Dhoni’s match-winning 91. It was a total team effort all right, but Mahi was the glue that kept the team together.

Critics have also accused him of being hungry to hog the limelight, as they pointed out when he promoted himself up the batting order in that final, despite being terribly out of form. Well, tell me how many players will have the guts to do so and that too in a World Cup final? He has been called extremely lucky. True, it was pure luck that both Joginder and Ishant Sharma delivered. Having faith in all his players, no matter what the circumstances, is another Dhoni hallmark. Again, how many captains would have had guts to go to players like the Sharmas to deliver in such crunch situations?

Unlike Ganguly, Dhoni is a cool customer, rightly called “Captain Cool”. Barring the odd occasion, he is seldom seen shouting at his players. He is more a friend to his players than their captain. He always backs them as well, case in point being “Sir” Ravindra Jadeja and “Maggi Legend” Rohit Sharma. Jadeja and Rohit have always been labeled as Dhoni’s favorites. People used to openly ridicule them. But after his Champions Trophy exploits, how many of us are actually laughing at “Sir”? Even “Maggi Legend” has gone on to form a successful opening partnership with Dhawan in ODIs.

On some other notes, unlike Dada, Mahi’s batting form as captain has been consistent overall and excellent in ODIs. He also has a knack of playing crucial knocks at crucial times, be it the one in World Cup final for India or the one for CSK in IPL 2010 against Punjab that saved them from elimination. He is also a superb athlete unlike Ganguly, who was a notorious runner and poor fielder. Some sporting gestures on his part include taking back Ian Bell’s dismissal in 2011, letting Ganguly lead the team during the final moments of his last Test and letting his boys celebrate with the Champions Trophy and fading into background when they celebrated the win. Last but not the least, it was Ganguly who instilled much needed aggressiveness in Indian cricket, but it is Dhoni’s team who has taken it to a whole new level.

The former ticket collector and goalkeeper-turned wicketkeeper has indeed come a long way from being the long-haired debutant to brand Dhoni that he is today. Sourav Ganguly revived the fortunes of Indian cricket but it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who took it to heights never seen before. I may not be a big Dhoni fan but I sure respect him.

Thus, in my book, Dhoni beats Ganguly as India’s best ever captain, and by a mile.

Captaincy Record

Tests (2008-):

Venue	Matches	Won	Lost	Draw
Home	28	19	3	6
Away	19	5	9	5
Total	47	24	12	11

ODIs (2007-):

Venue	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result
Home	51	31	17	1	2
Away+Neutral	94	56	30	2	6
Total	145	87	47	3	8

T20Is (2007-):

Venue	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result
Home	9	4	5	0	0
Away+Neutral	32	16	14	1	1
Total	41	20	19	1	1

Don’t miss the Part 1 of the debate – Sourav ‘Dada’ Ganguly vs ‘Captain Cool’ Dhoni: Who’s the better leader?