Is Dhoni India’s best captain ever?-22/6/10

By Vedam Jaishankar, 22/06/2010

Is Dhoni India’s best captain ever?

One of the most striking aspects of India’s gripping penultimate-ball win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup cricket tournament in Sri Lanka was skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s remarkable poise under pressure.


In the intense heat of the battle the veritable 'Captain Cool' came across as a towering leader, whose icy efficiency intimidated the opposition. For his team, his calm, soothing approach provided the inspirational spark in what was fundamentally a nail-biting thriller.

Dhoni, at the post-match press conference, revealed that he was just as anxious and excited as the other Indian players during the course of the nerve-wracking run chase. But his deportment during the game hardly betrayed this, either to his players or anybody else.

Dhoni's dead-pan approach to the task was important, for all around him the pressure was getting to the players. His partner in the match-winning partnership, Gautam Gambhir, for instance, confessed that he had his "heart in his mouth" and he just "could not bear to watch the closing moments of the game."

Sunil Gavaskar



It was in such a situation, that skipper Dhoni, with his calm, collected and almost sphinx-like demeanour radiated a soothing effect on the team. The players, charged-up and with adrenalin levels soaring, were spoiling for a fight that probably would have side tracked them from their goal of defeating Pakistan.

But with Dhoni at the helm, and calling the tune, none crossed the line. He helped ensure that they stayed focused and consequently there was no panic in the ranks. The team almost always looked in control. And this, frankly, was so unlike Indian batting line-ups of the past when panic easily set in at the fall of a wicket and the rest of the batsmen just collapsed under the pressure of a run chase.

Kapil Dev



It is perhaps for this reason that many Indian captains in the past opted not to expose their batsmen to the pressures of chasing a target. But they had no such qualms about piling pressure on their bowlers!

This brings us to the question: Is Dhoni India's best captain ever?

Having covered the game extensively for more than two decades, I've seen Indian captains Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble in action.

Dilip Vengsarkar


Clearly, the more successful ones were Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, Azharuddin, Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble. But none of them possessed the qualities that have made Dhoni such a cherished skipper.

Each captain had his quirk, which perhaps defined his captaincy. Kapil Dev who led what was India's most successful team ever (won the 1983 World Cup, 1986 tour of England) had his own set of favourite players: Chetan Sharma, Madan Lal, Mohinder Amarnath and Maninder Singh. Amarnath was extraordinary during the period. But the others were pedestrian. Kapil, though, almost always preferred them to the others. Of course he was amazingly gifted and could bat, bowl and field like a champion. And his spark of brilliance set up many a win. If only he had as much faith in Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri and Syed Kirmani as he had in his North Indian team mates, India could well have been far more successful during that era.

Ravi Shastri


During the same period Gavaskar led the team to victories in the Asia Cup in Sharjah (1984) and the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket (1985). He had faith in a different set of core players. He was a product of Mumbai cricket and his orthodox approach to captaincy was to first ensure that the team did not lose. Then, if chance presented itself he would go for a win. However, it was the shenanigans of these two big wigs of Indian cricket which almost made a mockery of India's gifted team of the 1980s.

Azharuddin who was plonked at the helm to squash the rebellious seniors, Vengsarkar, Srikkanth and others, took to the post slowly. He had an excellent record on tailor-made Indian pitches where his choice of spinners (Kumble plus any two others) ruled the roost. The batsmen too came into their own on the slow, low pitches. But all of Azharuddin's wins came to nought overseas.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth



Azhar himself lived under the shadow of match-fixing and this will be a blot on his and Indian cricket forever.

Tendulkar's first stint at the top was marred by a number of his own team-mates. But Tendulkar too was to blame for some of the failures. He was so gifted that he could not understand the limitations of lesser mortals. He was always perplexed when others could not do everything he could! Also, on some overseas tours he gave a distinct impression that he was happier being captain of Maharashtra, rather than India. His companions off the field were mostly players from Maharashtra and the group was very comfortable sticking to themselves and speaking their own language.

Mohammed Azharuddin


Tendulkar's second stint was ruined by the selectors. At least one senior selector often put him down in meetings. It reached a stage where the maestro preferred to quit rather than put up with further humiliation.

Actually the selectors those days were quite manipulative. They knew some of the players were getting to be larger than life. They bided their time and waited for disastrous results from overseas tours to cut these players to size. They knew the Indian team would get beaten abroad and public opinion would be firmly against them. They used these opportunities to strike at the 'prima donnas'.

Sourav Ganguly



It was Sourav Ganguly who gradually changed this. To start with, he brought his own brash behaviour to the table. This and his backer Jagmohan Dalmiya's presence in the Board neutralised the selectors. Besides he genuinely forged an India unit as he had no regional compulsions to adhere to. For that matter, he was the only cricketer from the East, and it helped. He also had in his ranks three of the most outstanding batsmen of the era in international cricket - Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar and the explosive match-winner Virender Sehwag. Ganguly himself and VVS Laxman further shored up this line-up. Thus for the first time India had the batting to do battle in foreign lands.

The bowling too was at its best. Pace man Javagal Srinath was the spearhead of an attack that had the wily Kumble in its ranks. Harbhajan Singh too was coming of age. Ganguly sat out some key matches, but India were still winning abroad. The 2003 World Cup in South Africa could have been Ganguly's crowning glory. But India lost that final to Australia.

Sachin Tendulkar



Dravid officially took over from Ganguly in 2005. But by then he had already led India to its first Test win in Pakistan in 49 years. He had historic wins in West Indies and England too, but excessive interference from a senior selector was the last straw. He decided to quit captaincy and concentrate on his batting.

Rahul Dravid


Captaincy came late to Kumble. But the dignity, home work, work ethics and diligence he brought to the post were simply outstanding. In a short span of time he left his mark. But time was against him. He was already in his late 30s and was seen as a stop gap till Dhoni was acknowledged as mature enough to lead.

Anil Kumble



It is possible that the captaincy styles of Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble have influenced Dhoni. He has the flair of Ganguly, the resoluteness of Dravid and the quiet efficiency of Kumble. To boot, he takes intuitive decisions and these often work out right for him. A classic example is his calling on rookie Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over in the inaugural T20 World Cup final against Pakistan. At that time, the move seemed illogical. But actually the opponents were lulled into complacency and the rookie rose to the occasion to bowl India to a famous victory.

Indeed Dhoni, at this moment, seems to have it all: flair, resoluteness, efficiency, intuitiveness and, most importantly, luck. No wonder his players say they are willing to stand in front of a speeding truck for him! More power to his arm.

Source: India Syndicate

Images: AFP