“The Best Captain I Have Played Under”: Sachin Tendulkar Once Revealed Why He Loved Playing Under MS Dhoni’s Captaincy

Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar has played under some great captains such as Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Mohammad Azharuddin, etc. However, after winning ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Tendulkar hailed Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the best of the lot.

Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989, but he finally managed to lift his maiden World Cup in 2011. It was Dhoni’s first 50-over World Cup as captain, and he was absolutely bang on with respect to the leadership. Tendulkar also had a great campaign where he scored 482 runs at an average of 53.55, he was the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Team India lost just a single match in the campaign, and it was against South Africa. It was the same game where Tendulkar got irritated with former India batter Virender Sehwag’s singing habit. In the final match, Dhoni surprised everyone when he promoted himself in the batting order, but he proved his class with his match-winning knock.

Sachin Tendulkar Once Revealed Why He Loved Playing Under MS Dhoni’s Captaincy

For those who don’t know, Tendulkar was the one who suggested BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to name Dhoni as India’s captain ahead of ICC World Twenty20 2007. After winning in 2011, he had said that Dhoni is someone who reads the game conditions really well and is always open to listening to different ideas.

Talking about his further qualities, Tendulkar had insisted that the ability of Dhoni to not show his frustration on the field makes him a fantastic captain.

“Dhoni is the best captain I have played under,” Tendulkar had said after winning the world event 12 years ago.

“He is very sharp and always alert. He reads the situation well and is open to sharing ideas. He always has discussions with bowlers, batsmen and senior players separately.”

Both Dhoni and Tendulkar share warm mutual respect for each other. Dhoni once said that Tendulkar was his cricketing idol growing up. Although, during ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Dhoni played a very slow knock, and Tendulkar criticized him for the same as well.

MS Dhoni’s International captaincy record

Dhoni led India 200 times in ODIs, where he won 110 of them (55% wins). In T20Is, he had a 56.9% win percentage. Test Cricket takes the third spot as India managed to win 45% of the matches under the Dhoni’s leadership.

Dhoni was the first captain in history of the sport to win all three major ICC trophies, i.e., T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy.