There are a very few cricketers who have claims of contributing more to Indian cricket than Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. With the sheer strength of their achievements, they are the two candidates for the title of ‘Greatest Indian Captain’. Astute leaders and great readers of the game, both of them have taken Indian cricket to newer heights. In this article, however, we try to evaluate and compare the two and decide on who is a tad better. Lets have a look at the 5 Reasons why Dhoni is a better captain than Ganguly!
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1) The statistics clearly favour MSD
While statistics do not always paint the correct picture in terms of the supremacy of one leader over another, it certainly is a good indicator. MSD trumps Dada in terms of the win percentage with a 45% win rate over 42.5%. The same trend reflects in ODIs too with MSD registering a win percentage of 56.74%, 5 percentage points above Sourav Ganguly.
2) Unique field placements and instinctive decisions
This is the domain in which Dhoni has no comparision. From giving the ball to a unknown commodity like Joginder Sharma in the World T20 final to placing a fielder dead-straight in the IPL T20 finals to get rid of the dangerous Keiron Pollard, Dhoni is truly a maverick.
While Sourav did maintain an aggression of his own to spur his team and tried to get underneath his opponents skin by playing mind games, Dhoni stays cool and pulls out one trick after the other4 from the hat and leaves his opponent perplexed.
Also read: 5 things to look forward to in India vs West Indies 4th test match.
3) The World Cup Triumph
Indian cricket fans had seen a dry spell of almost 3 decades for winning the World Cup. Sourav Ganguly lifted the spirits of a highly dejected team in 2003 following the humiliation they suffered at New Zealand.
In the tournament in South Africa, they slowly rose up the rungs following a drubbing at the hands of Australia and went on to play the finals, only to fail at the final hurdle. However, MSD took the one step further with his iconic six over long on to hand us the elusive and the most precious trophy in cricket.
4) Significant contributions as a batsman
While both have exemplary leadership skills, Dhoni has contributed much more to the team as a batsman. The utility of Dhoni in ODIs is absolutely critical. His quick runs at the bottom has made scores of 300 get converted to 320 and give the edge to the Indian team. While Sourav was a part of the prolific Sachin-Sourav partnership leading to many superb knocks from the southpaw, Dhoni is certainly a proven match winner.
The innings wherein he single-handedly makes India win is a stuff of legend. The final over win in the Celkon Mobile Cup Final is a notable instance of his match winning capability. This is also backed up by statistics with Dhoni averaging 56.81, much higher than Dada’s 38.66
5) Better decision making process
This is a fact which even Dada has acknowledged to be his shortcoming. Following the end of John Wright’s successful tenure, India was in the lookout for a coach. Sourav Ganguly recommended Greg Chappell’s name following his positive personal interactions with him.
However, what followed was one of the bitterest fallouts in cricket history. This hit the Indian team hard and the entire dressing room environment was spoiled. Dhoni, in contrast made sure that the Indian coach was someone who liked to work staying in the background. The Kirsten-Dhoni combination worked wonders for the Indian team.
Even the next coaches like Duncan Fletcher and Anil Kumble( of which Sourav was an integral part) have been chosen with lots of deliberation to avoid the Chappell fiasco again.
