Dhoni wins cricketing poll against Ganguly

Former India captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has edged out fellow countryman and current BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly as India’s greatest captain by half a point.

This occurred from the slimmest of margins in a survey conducted on Star Sports show Cricket Connected. The two captains were voted for on eight parameters developed in association with ESPNcricinfo as part of the event marking the birthdays. Dhoni is July 7 while Ganguly, who gave him his first international berth with India, is July 8.

In the survey conducted by Star Sports involving some of the biggest veterans in world cricket, including Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, and Kris Srikkanth, Dhoni’s half-point win over Ganguly was from his batting prowess.

According to the results announced on the Cricket Connected English and Hindi, each category’s average score was calculated from each panel members’ votes.

Although Ganguly scored higher than Dhoni in four categories which were captaincy away from home, the success of team handed over to the next captain, transformational effects of captaincy on the team,  and overall impact, Dhoni was ahead in the four categories of ODI captaincy, captaincy at home, titles won and performance as a batsman as the team’s captain.

It was only a decimal that was the difference in points between the two greats.

Dhoni, a World Cup winning captain with the team, was the leader between 2011 with the 50-over World Cup and 2007 T20 World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013, won by the team during his tenure.

India became a team hard to beat under Ganguly, and they racked up a win at Australia on the road, which made them fearless. The team had the likes of Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh,  Zaheer Khan, and Ashish Nehra in the squad making waves.

To Smith, a former South African captain, the biggest between Ganguly and Dhoni’s captaincy was the middle order, the ability to close games, and win games.

He lauded Dhoni for finishing games in a calm way and his leadership skill on how he guides people around him.

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed