India’s best Test captain poll: Mahendra Singh Dhoni rated higher than Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli.
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Given the amount of cricket the Indian team has played over the years, choosing the best Indian Test captain so far can undoubtedly be an onerous task. Notwithstanding the numbers, which might be high or low for all the contenders, it is true that each one has added something or the other to the larger picture.
Right from the times of C.K. Nayudu to Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, from Kapil Dev to Mohammad Azharuddin, from Sourav Ganguly to Virat Kohli, India have eventually went upwards over these decades. Hence, choosing one of them as the best can be tricky.
However, some people have done the same in a poll put out by DNA on their Twitter handle. Asked to pick one out of Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Dhoni or Kohli, the majority of people have opted for Dhoni as their favorite Test captain of the Indian team.
People’s affection towards Dhoni was seen to an extent that he ended up gaining more than 50% votes in the poll. 53% of the voters advocated for Dhoni, 23% of them for Ganguly, 13% of Kohli and 11% for Dravid.
Here are the results:
Dhoni has captained India in most Test matches. In the 60 matches that he has led India, India have won 27, lost 18 and drawn 15. Talking about victories, Ganguly (21) was surpassed by Kohli (22) last month when India beat England at Trent Bridge.
Among the captains who have captained India in more than five Tests, Kohli’s win percentage (55) is the best. He is followed by Dhoni (45%) and then Ganguly (42.85%).
Dravid, who captained Indian in 25 Test matches between 2003-2007, tasted victory eight times and loss six times.
With Kohli being the current captain, he is more than likely to overdo Dhoni as the most successful Test captain for India.
