Statistical comparison: Sourav Ganguly vs MS Dhoni as captains

Being the captain of a cricket team is no ceremonial job.It's a challenging role only a few can perform. Many, some of them the best cricketers we've seen, have failed to cope with the burden of captaincy despite having ruled over the sport with their unmatched cricketing skills.What's even more difficult is to pick the right candidate for leadership. Dressing room chatter, personal history, mental strength and other more unquantifiable factors help selectors make the choice while picking a skipper.When it comes to India, being a cricket captain is the highest pedestal you can aim for. The honour comes with 24/7 scrutiny and being the target of a plethora of emotions ranging from one extreme to another.India's cricketing history has been shaped by its captains, as much as the great batsmen and bowlers of this nation. From CK Nayudu to MS Dhoni, in last 82 years, India has witnessed 31 skippers in Tests and 22 in ODIs. These captains have moulded the Indian cricket team in many different ways.Vijay Hazare oversaw India's first ever win in 1952, MAK Pataudi was famous for injecting India with that fighting spirit, leading his team to its first overseas Test and series win in 1968. Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup for India in 1983. Sunil Gavaskar led the team which won World Championship in 1985. Mohammad Azharuddin became India's most successful ODI skipper. Sourav Ganguly led a resurgent India battered by match-fixing scandals, making them a force to reckon with globally. And MS Dhoni reached unprecedented success levels, before plunging into equally baffling depths.There's no one individual who can be held responsible for the success and failures of Indian cricket team, but the debate about who's the greatest Indian captain rages on nonetheless.The role of their predecessors can never be overstated, with India a completely different entity than it is in modern cricket, but with the sheer enormity of their numbers and achievements, Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni remain the front-runners for fans for the title of the 'Greatest Indian captain'.In a sport dominated by statistics, despite the success/failures on field, captaincy is a tricky thing to be judged on numbers. But with fans unaware of the finer parameters, the captain-player relationships and dressing room chatter, it's only numbers which come to our aide.So, the big question - Ganguly or Dhoni? We compare the statistics:P.S. If youve made your choice, dont forget to vote in the last slide.

#1 Overall record

Captaincy record in Tests:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win Percentage
Sourav Ganguly	49	21	13	15	42.6%
MS Dhoni	60	27	18	15	45%

Captaincy record in ODIs:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win Percentage
Sourav Ganguly	147	76	66	0	5	51.7%
MS Dhoni	178	101	63	4	11	56.74%

If Sourav Ganguly pushed the boundaries of what Indian cricket team could achieve on the field, MS Dhoni has only raised the bar a bit higher and got more success overall.

#2 ICC/World events

ICC ODI World Cup:

	Matches	Won	Tied	Lost	Win %	Titles Won
Sourav Ganguly	11	9	0	2	81.8%	0
MS Dhoni	17	14	1	2	82.4%	1

2003 – World Cup finalists. 2011 – World Cup winners. 2015 – Semi finalists

The record speaks for itself. Where Ganguly’s team failed in the final against the best team in the world, Dhoni’s men conquered that final obstacle at home, winning the World Cup after 28 years.

ICC Champions Trophy:

	Matches	Won	Lost	NR	Win %	Titles Won
Sourav Ganguly	11	7	2	2	63.6%	1*
MS Dhoni	8	6	1	1	75%	1

*India shared the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002/03 with Sri Lanka after rain ended both attempts at staging a final in Colombo.

In global events, Dhoni’s record is stupendous, winning both the major ODI tournaments, whereas India could only share the Champions Trophy title under Ganguly. In addition, Dhoni also won the T20 World Cup in 2007, a format which Ganguly missed during his international career.

#3 Away record

Tests played away from home:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Loss %	Win %
Sourav Ganguly	28	11	10	7	35.7%	39.3%
MS Dhoni	30	6	15	9	50%	20%

The results speak for themselves. India emerged as a stronger side under Ganguly away from home in Tests. Having a poor record away from the turning tracks at home, Ganguly’s Team India fought to change the popular perception.

Whereas this is biggest blot in Dhoni’s otherwise glowing captaincy record. 16 Test losses, 10 of them on a trot, have done great damage to his Test credentials overseas.

Whitewashes in England and Australia in 2011-2012, followed by winless tours of South Africa and New Zealand in 2013-14, and an embarrassing collapse in England after taking the lead at Lord’s in 2014, followed by the winless tour of Australia has absolutely crushed fans’ confidence in his leadership in Tests overseas.

ODIs played away from home:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win %
Sourav Ganguly	111	58	48	0	5	52.3 %
MS Dhoni	105	54	40	3	8	51.4%

Despite an overwhelmingly poor record in Tests, Dhoni’s team has fared quite well in ODIs overseas. It goes on to show how a change in format does wonders for Dhoni.

While Ganguly’s team was competitive across formats overseas, it’s only ODIs where Dhoni’s leadership has borne good results away from home, as is evident from India’s 2013 Champions Trophy victory in England, the same venue where India lost 0-4 in 2011 and 1-3 in 2014 in Tests.

#4 Home Record

Tests played at home:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Loss %	Win %
Sourav Ganguly	21	10	3	8	14.3%	47.6%
MS Dhoni	30	21	3	6	10%	70%

If Dhoni’s away record wasn’t so poor, the invincibility which the statistics almost suggest at home, would have earned him the title of India’s greatest captain. Among captains with a minimum of 10 Test wins, only Steve Waugh, Javed Miandad and Viv Richards have a better win/loss ratio at home, and only Waugh, Ponting and Smith have won more Tests at home.

ODIs played at home:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win %
Sourav Ganguly	36	18	18	0	0	50%
MS Dhoni	65	41	20	1	3	63%

Dhoni trumps Ganguly in ODIs too in terms of results and has a higher rate of success at home.

#5 Luck at toss

Despite the popular opinion which once prevailed that MS Dhoni was a ‘lucky’ captain, the only ‘luck’ that works in cricket is at the toss of a coin. The rest is a result of how a player performs on the field.

Tests:

	Matches	Toss Won	Batted first	Toss Win %	Mat. won	Mat. lost	Mat. drawn
Sourav Ganguly	49	21	12	42.8%	9	4	8
MS Dhoni	60	26	18	43.3%	9	9	8

ODIs:

	Matches	Toss Won	Batted first	Toss Win %	Mat. Won	Mat. Lost	Mat. Tied	Mat. NR
Sourav Ganguly	147	74	48	50.3%	42	30	0	2
MS Dhoni	178	82	46	56.1%	48	24	2	6

#6 Batting record

Tests:

	Innings	Runs	Avg	HS	100s	50s
Sourav Ganguly	75	2561	37.66	144	5	13
MS Dhoni	96	3454	40.63	224	5	24

Venue	Sourav Ganguly (Avg)	MS Dhoni (Avg)
Australia	47.33	20.2
South Africa	30.00	29.55
England	58.50	33.47
New Zealand	7.25	54.40
West Indies	53.66	19.40

As a skipper, Dhoni’s record is better than Ganguly as a batsman. However, Dhoni’s record is skewed when it comes to home and away performances. In India, he averages 51.75, but the number drops to 32.46 away from home.

Ganguly averages 43.41 outside India, while his home record as a Test batsman is abysmal, with an average of 29.93.

ODIs:

	Innings	Runs	Avg	HS	SR	100s	50s
Sourav Ganguly	143	5104	38.66	144	76.20	11	30
MS Dhoni	153	6022	56.81	139*	86.55	6	44

Dhoni trumps Ganguly as an ODI batsman too, having earned the title of the best finisher of his era. While Ganguly formed the greatest opening partnership with Sachin, his statistics fall well short of Dhoni's feats as an ODI batsman.

#7 IPL record

IPL is the only platform where Ganguly and Dhoni’s record can be compared when it comes to the T20 format.

Though I’d like to point out that it’s a bit unfair to judge Ganguly’s leadership in a format which he played only towards the very end of his career.

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win Percentage	Titles Won
Sourav Ganguly	42	17	25	0	0	40.47%	0
MS Dhoni	129	78	50	0	1	60.93%	2

Batting record as captain in IPL:

	Innings	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	50s
Sourav Ganguly	56	1349	91	25.45	106.80	7
MS Dhoni	116	2986	70*	39.28	139.27	15

Ganguly’s stint with Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors India failed to yield any positive result, which resulted in his ouster from IPL. Though his leadership qualities weren’t under question, the format didn’t suit the legend who struggled in the slam bang version. However, he still defied the odds to end up as the fourth highest run-getter in the tournament in 2010.

On the other hand, under Dhoni’s leadership, Chennai Super Kings has been the most successful team in IPL. His innovative captaincy along with destructive batting lower down the order has turned the tide for CSK many a times.

#8 Building the team

No. of players who made their debut under Ganguly (2000-2005):

Tests	19
ODIs	30

No. of players who made their debut under Dhoni (2008-2015):

Tests	25
ODIs	25

Under Ganguly, the bigwigs – Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Kumble and himself – being the permanent fixtures, granted a more settled look to the Test side. Barring injuries, India’s struggles with the team selection were limited to a few slots.

However, under Dhoni, after the disastrous tours of England and Australia, with Dravid, Laxman and eventually Sachin retiring, it’s a fresh start for the Indian youngsters and has seen more debuts.

The ODI squad however, has seen much lesser chopping and changing since the Ganguly era.

#9 Who is your choice?

Sourav Ganguly or Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Who do you think deserves to be called the best Indian captain?