#2. ICC events
This is where the comparison becomes exciting as both are brilliant exponents of leadership when it comes to ICC events.
Dhoni and Ponting have represented their national teams in 13 ICC tournaments with the former leading India at 10 tournaments (the most for any captain)- two World Cups, two Champions Trophies, and all the World T20s so far while the latter has led Australia at 9 ICC tournaments- three World Cups, 4 Champions Trophies, and two World T20s.
| Tournaments captained | Matches captained | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win Percentage | |
| MS Dhoni | 2011, 2015 | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 82.35% |
| Ricky Ponting | 2003, 2007, 2011 | 29 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 89.65% |
Ponting led his team to back-to-back World Cup wins in 2003 and 2007 where the Kangaroos were unbeaten, the only team to have won the World Cup without losing a match (Sri Lanka had no losses during the 1996 World Cup but their group stage win against Australia was a walkover).
Both of Ponting’s defeat in the World Cup as a captain came during the 2011 World Cup where Australia first lost to Pakistan, thus ending their 12-year winning streak at the tournament before being eliminated by India in the quarter-finals.
Dhoni charismatically led the Indian team to victory at the 2011 World Cup and also led India to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup where they were beaten by eventual champions Australia. There has been only one occasion when Dhoni and Ponting have crossed paths at the World Cup as skippers and the former’s side emerged victorious.
Both Dhoni and Ponting were awarded the Man of the Match in their first World Cup final as captain.
| Tournaments captained | Matches captained | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win Percentage | |
| Dhoni | 2009, 2013 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 75% |
| Ponting | 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75% |
Both captains have the same win percentage here and like the Cricket World Cup, India and Australia met only once during the Champions Trophy with Dhoni and Ponting at the helm of affairs. It was in 2009, when the match was abandoned due to rain during Australia’s 43rd over.
Ricky Ponting has led Australia in four editions of the Champions Trophy with Australia reaching the semi-finals in the first two tournaments and going on to win the whole thing during the next two.
Dhoni’s first Champions Trophy as captain wasn’t a very fruitful one as India were knocked out in the first round. However, Dhoni went on to lead a young Indian side to victory at the 2013 Champions Trophy which made him the only captain to win all three ICC trophies.
| Tournaments captained | Matches captained | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win Percentage | |
| Dhoni | 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 | 33 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 60.61% |
| Ponting | 2007, 2009 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 37.5% |
This is the one area where Dhoni has bettered Ponting comprehensively. Even if we consider the tournaments featuring both Dhoni and Ponting, Dhoni is still up ahead with a win percentage of 54.54 compared to Punter’s 37.5% in World T20s.
Dhoni led a young Indian team to victory at the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007 which was his first stint as the skipper. He also led the Men In Blue to the final in 2014 and to the semi-finals during last year’s tournament with India losing to Sri Lanka and West Indies respectively.
Ponting’s World T20 record is a very dismal one. He did lead Australia to the semi-finals of the 2007 World T20 but it also included an embarrassing defeat to Zimbabwe in Australia’s tournament opener in addition to the Super 8 defeat against Pakistan and the semi-final loss to India.
Ponting’s second World T20 would be his last as Australia went on to lose both their group matches against West Indies and Sri Lanka and were knocked out of the tournament. This was the first time since the 2000 Champions Trophy that Australia were knocked out in the opening round of an ICC tournament.
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