Not so long ago, former India opener Gautam Gambhir said that MS Dhoni didn’t produce a lot of match-winners for Indian cricket. Gambhir had instead opined that former India skipper Sourav Ganguly brought plenty of fresh faces in the Indian team and turned them into champions.
However, ex-cricketer and pundit of the game, Aakash Chopra, differs from Gambhir’s opinions, stating that the Ranchi-born helped in the transition of the team.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons that Dhoni’s role as the skipper of the national team wasn’t easy at all as MSD took over the responsibility of leading the side when India were struggling after a tragic campaign in the 2007 World Cup. In the same year, Dhoni led for the first time in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup and the rest, as they say, is history.
“He is absolutely right that Sourav Ganguly gave a lot of match-winners to India. Dada even took over the captaincy when cricket was in difficulty due to the black clouds of match-fixing hovering over it and the public’s belief lost. From that situation to develop a team that went abroad and won, the eye for talent was absolutely fantastic,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“In my opinion, Dhoni’s task was challenging, and a person like Dhoni was only required there, who could manage the team tactically with care and also manage the transition,” he added.
Chopra said that Dhoni started leading the team when the veterans of Indian cricket were into their final stages of career. Chopra also expressed that the likes of Murali Vijay, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal started playing under Dhoni.
“According to me, it is a wrong comparison, and it is a slightly incorrect outcome as well. I’m afraid I personally have to disagree with the opinion, I feel the team that Kohli got was assembled with great love by MS Dhoni,” Chopra added further.
