Why is it SILLY to compare Sourav and Dhoni as captains?

Why is it SILLY to compare Sourav and Dhoni as captains?: For the last few years, there have been a number of comparisons seen regarding the captaincy of two of the India’s Master Captains, Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Some fans even argue about one being better than the other. But have we ever thought upon the fact that is it legit to yarn comparison between the two greats? And on the basis of which facts do we make such comparisons? Are we clear to our points? Well, lets extract some bunch of time to ponder our thoughts upon the matter and give it a shot before trying to equate the two now on.

To begin with, Sourav took the captaincy of the Indian team from the stained and stinky residues of betting and match fixing and Indian Cricket was victimized by the same. It was never an easy job. But ‘dada’, held his faith upon a young bunch of cricketers and built an Indian team, with an attitude we had never seen before and on the frames of ‘the spirit to never give up’. It was an all-new Indian team. A team that could fight the greats of Australia, South Africa, a team that could even proceeded to the World Cup final with possession of players with minimal experience, a team that could chase down 326 runs in a tournament final and many more. India might not have been the best but surely was a team which gave the best teams some unrest.

Now, redirecting over to Dhoni’s part, this man took over the Indian captaincy from literally a place where the team needed a leader with a brave heart after India’s drastically poor performances in the ICC World Cup 2007. Leading the team with a bunch of young talents, skipper Dhoni took India to the maiden ICC World T20 triumph in 2007, which was no less ecstatic.

Dhoni’s calmness and composure as a captain was talked about and was appreciated by the legends of the game. India found a captain, a leader of a distinct type, who held his nerves and silently engulfed over the opposition to triumphant occasions; someone who had the gut to gamble and back his decisions. Under his leadership, India won the ICC World Cup, 2011 after a prolonged wait of 28 years and also won the ICC Champions Trophy in English in 2013.

Coming to the parameter of success, both Dhoni and Sourav attained loads of successes, perhaps too much to be compared against. Sourav led the team to finals of ICC Knockout in 2002. India were the joint champions of ICC Champions Trophy 2002, the champions of the Natwest Trophy, the runners up of ICC World Cup in 2003, drew the series against Australia in Australia, beaten Pakistan in Pakistan in 2004. Even Dhoni has been a masterpiece in the business, leading the team to a triumphant march in ICC World T20, the CB series triumph in Australia in 2008, the emphatic World Cup win in 2011, the ICC Champions Trophy champions in 2013 and led the team to the runners up position in ICC World T20, 2014. Also, Dhoni is the first non-Australian captain to have over 100 ODI wins as the captain.

Now, the above describes the impact of two inspiring, enthralling, commanders of Indian Cricket and undoubtedly, the two can be termed the best captains India have ever produced (not forgetting Kapil Dev and others, along with their contributions). Comparing them on the basis of some stupid facts is equivalent to a comparison between air and water- what is more important for the existence of life?

Sourav built a team, packed with sheer self-confidence and taught them how to play fearless cricket; which was probably the first time we were witnessing something like that in India and instilled the courage to challenge the best! Dhoni with his calm, soothing composure, took the team to an all-new level, attaining loads of success in the pathway, to the dimension we had never seen in Indian cricket.

Also, these two pillars have mammoth respect for each other. Sourav said that Dhoni is the best captain India have seen, while on the other hand, Dhoni said that he learnt a number of captaincy tricks from Sourav, while he played under the him and according to MS, Sourav was undoubtedly one of the best captains in World Cricket in the era.

It seems as if we don’t appreciate longevity. During the later phase of Sourav’s career as a captain, he had to face tormenting criticism from the armchair critics, owing to a few back to back losses in 2005. And the same is case with Dhoni. After a few failures, everyone is readily blaming Dhoni for every misery drawing towards Indian cricket. This is how quickly we forget the good times. And ironically, the people who asked Sourav to step down in 2005 are claiming that Sourav was a better captain over Dhoni!

Well, Cricket is just a game. Successes and failures are bound to come. Everyone experiences something similar in the journeys of our lives. Both Sourav and Dhoni have been instrumental, revolutionary, the two who have metamorphosed Indian Cricket and things might have been entirely different if any of them was not there. Statistically, they can be compared, debated, stated one over the other but based on the cricketing viewpoint, it is rather illogical to sit to compare the two. Both were captains of different eras, both enjoyed success and failures but for that they don’t deserve to be scrutinized as to decide who is better.

Perhaps, it is us, the so called analysts, experts and the fans who don’t appreciate long term things and don’t have adequate faith upon our captains to wait for the best to happen. This is the reason why dozens of such comparisons sneak in. Perhaps, we believe in the notion – either you die as a hero, or live long to see yourself as a villain!

So, let us have a second thought the next time we sit along to equate two guys who have elevated Indian cricket to the altitude it is today!