Dada or Dhoni - The eternal debate

Dada or Dhoni?

As Dhoni wraps up another win and levels Ganguly with 21 wins as the best Test captain for India, the very same question is back again. Who is the best captain, the aggressive Dada or the cautious Dhoni? Well, it is no easy question, and definitely not one with an universally accepted answer. But over the years, both of them have contributed a lot to Indian cricket with their unique styles. However, after putting them under the microscope, I have to side with Sourav Ganguly, and the reasons are pretty obvious for that.

The teams that they took up when they started as captains were quite different. In fact, Ganguly had to struggle to even get his perfect playing XI, whereas Dhoni was gifted with a perfect Test team. The team, which consisted of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, and Virender Sehwag did not require someone to remind them of their duties. They had been there before him, and knew how to tackle situations. In fact, he was the one who was learning from them. On the other hand, Ganguly was not as lucky as Dhoni in this aspect. He was given a team with great potential, but one that was headless and required a man to perform that job, to lead the team. He obliged, and was the man with the task of resurrecting the team from a deep crisis.

The playing conditions too are in favour of Dhoni, who ‘of course’ had nothing to do with it. The number of wins overseas speaks in volumes about that. Dhoni, with only 5 wins abroad, has still a lot of ground to cover to catch up with Ganguly. But with a better success rate of 64% at home, he leads the pack. The consecutive seven losses ruined Dhoni’s record in away Tests. Dhoni has proved to be a able leader under known conditions, but his over-cautious approach has backfired on him on many recent occasions. What set apart Ganguly from the others on the list was his approach towards the game.

Steve Waugh, whose retirement plans were disturbed by Dada’s team, rated the southpaw as a better captain.

“Sourav injected a sense of a self-confidence inside the team, a never say die-attitude, under him the team never gave up. They team had an attitude made of hard steel; they would just not be intimidated by the Australian conditions.”

And this is what Dhoni particularly lacks, even though he has the ability to remain calm and lead his team under pressure. The young team requires a push from him now.

Dhoni is under scrutiny for his captaincy and form in Test cricket. The latter was answered by his latest double century in the series opener, but he has got to prove the former. There is no doubt that both of them have done their part for their teams, but the contribution from Ganguly is ahead of Dhoni in terms of runs too. Dhoni has lot to prove in terms of his ability as a Test batsman who can deliver wins for his team. Even though the team enjoyed a No.1 status for a brief period under his captaincy, a lot has been contributed by his former skippers, who played the major part in its achievement. Dhoni, who has proved himself as one of the best players in ODIs and T20s, now has a lot to show in Test cricket.

Ganguly is my choice for the best Test captain. Dhoni may better his record in the series, but he has a fair amount of ground to cover to reach the peaks. With Sachin being the last of the pack that formed the world’s most reliable batting line-up, the real Test of his character starts. He now has a young team which requires him to lead from the front. The team can no longer depend on the services of the old guard. As the series opens with a win, we should remind ourselves that so did the one against England, which turned out to be a very forgettable one for any Indian fan. Dhoni gets a chance to better his record, for both his and India’s sake. Let the best man win.