Former India starter Aakash Chopra said he disagrees with Gautam Gambhir’s claim that MS Dhoni did not give as many match-winners as Sourav Ganguly during his captain tenure.
Aakash Chopra said that MS Dhoni reunited his team with great love and gave it to Virat Kohli after he left the captaincy in 2017. The former prime minister also noted that Dhoni had to face a different type of challenge when he took over a team in transition when he was named captain.
Chopra’s comments come later Gambhir said that Ganguly left lots of match-winners, something Dhoni couldn’t do. Gambhir noted that, except for Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah, there are not many winners who evolved under the Dhoni captaincy.
However, Chopra came up with an ‘exhaustive list’, saying that Gambhir’s claim is ‘incorrect’. Chopra said the likes of Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, along with Rohit, Kohli, and Bumrah are winners of outstanding matches. under the captaincy of Dhoni, who stands out among the captains. .
‘Dhoni handled the transition carefully’
“Dhoni has been a phenomenal captain. Handling the transition is difficult, Dhoni has done very well,” said Aakash Chopra on his YouTube show, Aakash Vani.
“MS Dhoni’s biggest challenge was transitioning from an established team that had so many legends, but they were coming down from their heights. You need to bleed youth, but how do you do it without ignoring or offending a senior?”
“In my opinion, Dhoni’s task was very difficult and a person like Dhoni was only required there, who could handle the team tactically with care and also handle the transition.”
“The players who were below him include Virat Kohli himself, who might have been eliminated after the England tour if he had been another captain, but Dhoni was with him. Rohit Sharma reached those heights under Dhoni.
Jasprit Bumrah also came when MS Dhoni was about to leave the ODI captaincy and settled in before Dhoni left.
“The list is quite long and exhaustive. It is not that Dhoni has not prepared a team or given winners.”
“According to me, it is an incorrect comparison and it is also a slightly incorrect result. Personally I do not agree with the opinion, I feel that the team Kohli obtained was assembled with great love by MS Dhoni.”
Gambhir is absolutely right about Ganguly: Chopra
However, Aakash Chopra agreed with Gambhir’s views on Ganguly by assembling a match-winning Indian team.
Chopra said Ganguly took over the captaincy when not only Indian but world cricket was marred by match-fixing controversies.
“You are absolutely right that Sourav Ganguly gave many match winners to India. Dada even took over the captaincy when cricket was in difficulty due to the black clouds of match-fixing looming over him and the belief of the public lost. ”
“From that situation to developing a team that went abroad and won, the eye for talent was absolutely fantastic.”
“The first was Virender Sehwag, whom Dada gave a lot of confidence as well as opportunities, even when he was fired cheaply.
“Yuvraj Singh was pulled from the U19 level and had a sequence of poor performances long after the initial success in the Champions Trophy. But he was endorsed as Viru.”
“Harbhajan Singh was an absolute winner of the match. He was nowhere, Dada suddenly chose him and made him play the Australian series. And the rest is history, a definitive winner of the match under Dada.”
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.