Aakash Chopra Dismisses Gautam Gambhir’s Opinion Of MS Dhoni, Says Comparison Between Ganguly And Dhoni Wrong

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir recently raised a number of eyebrows when he stated that MS Dhoni did not leave behind sufficient match-winners when he stepped down as captain. Gambhir was comparing Dhoni with former India skipper Sourav Ganguly when he made his point.

The former opener, who won the World Cup under Dhoni’s captaincy, stated that Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are the only few world beaters left behind by Dhoni. On the other hand, he said that Ganguly gave Indian cricket the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and others.

“When MS Dhoni finished (his captaincy stint), he hasn’t given enough quality players to Virat Kohli, apart from Virat Kohli himself and Rohit Sharma. Or Jasprit Bumrah now. There are not too many world beaters, or probably people who win you tournaments,” Gautam Gambhir had told ESPNCricinfo.

“But look at what Sourav Ganguly gave to Indian cricket. Yuvraj Singh, man of the series in two World Cups [Yuvraj was only man of the series in the 2011 World Cup. Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag – these kinds of world beaters,” he added.

Aakash Chopra comments on Gautam Gambhir’s views:

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has said he does not agree with Gambhir’s opinion about Dhoni. The former cricketer-turned-commentator admitted that while Ganguly did a brilliant job as captain and bringing Indian cricket back on track after the match-fixing scandal, Dhoni was also the right man to lead India when he took charge of the team.

Aakash Chopra called the comparison from Gambhir wrong and said that Dhoni assembled his team with love before handing the reigns to Virat Kohli.

“He is absolutely right that Sourav Ganguly gave a lot of match-winners to India. Dada even took over 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,” Aakash Chopra was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

“In my opinion, Dhoni’s task was very difficult and a person like Dhoni was only required there, who could manage the team tactically with care and also manage the transition.

“According to me, it is a wrong comparison and it is a slightly incorrect outcome as well. I personally don’t agree with the opinion, I feel the team that Kohli got was assembled with great love by MS Dhoni,” Aakash Chopra added.

Ganguly and Dhoni are two of the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket. While Dhoni is the most decorated Indian captain of all-time, Ganguly is widely regarded as the captain who instilled a winning culture in the Indian team.

Ganguly is also regarded as the captain who taught the team to win Tests outside home. Under him, India won Test series in Pakistan, Zimbabwe and won Test matches in England and Australia. He had also led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup against all the odds.

On the other hand, Dhoni took India to the top of ICC Test rankings for the first time. He also helped the team win Test series in New Zealand and win Test matches in South Africa and England. He is the first and so far only captain to have won all the three ICC tournaments.

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