Statistics say MS Dhoni is India’s best captain but there have been other good skippers as well, says Gautam Gambhir

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is known for his sharp analysis and he never minces a word while putting forth his viewpoints. The 37-year-old, who has now become an MP after contesting the general elections this year after quitting the game, recently said that there are Indian captains who have done better than MS Dhoni. He cited the names of Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli as captains who have led India to glorious feats and added that it is not right to give all credits for success to the captain and blame him when otherwise.

Dhoni is India’s most successful captain as per the statistician’s book. He has led India in 60 Tests, 200 ODIs and 72 T20Is and won 27, 110 and 41 games, respectively. While nobody is there close to him as of yet (among the current captains like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who replaces the former) in the limited formats, Kohli is just one Test short of equalling Dhoni’s record of 27 wins. He will better Dhoni’s record wins in Tests if India win 2-0 against the West Indies in the upcoming series in the Caribbeans.

Ganguly, Kumble, Kohli have also led India well, says Gambhir

“If you see the statistics, then he (Dhoni) is the best captain. But that doesn’t mean that other captains have done badly. Sourav Ganguly has done good captaincy; we have won outside under him. Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, we have won ODI series in South Africa and Test series in Australia.

It is true that MS Dhoni has won us two World Cups (2007 and 2011) but it is not fair to give all credit to the captain for success and criticise only him when it doesn’t go your way. Dhoni has won the Champions Trophy and World Cups but other captains have also taken India forward. Captains like Anil Kumble have done the job though not for long; Rahul Dravid also led India to win in England,” he said in an exclusive interview to TV9.

Gambhir had once said in the past that the best captain under who he has played is Kumble. He also said that with different captains winning and losing in different countries, it is difficult to judge who is better than whom. The former opener maintained that Dhoni will be considered the best if one is only judged in terms of winning the World Cup.