"It's not about ability" - When Gautam Gambhir opened up on the similarity between his and MS Dhoni's leadership

It has often been claimed in media reports that Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir is not a big fan of former India captain and cricket legend MS Dhoni. A number of times he has questioned the importance given to Dhoni's iconic six in the 2011 ODI World Cup final against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Gambhir's debate has been that one six did not win India the World Cup.

To be fair to the former India opener, though, he has never been critical of Dhoni on a personal level. On the contrary, he has often praised the Ranchi-born cricketer. While speaking on Sportskeeda's special show SK Match ki Baat in May 2024, Gambhir even opined that his leadership style was similar to that of Dhoni and that both believe in making players feel secure. He commented:

"I feel insecurity is the biggest reason for a player's failure. It's not about ability. If you don't have the ability you won't reach the first-class, IPL, or international level in the first place. So it is important to have a secure dressing room. A secure dressing room is a happy dressing room and it eventually becomes a winning dressing room."

While Gambhir only led India in a handful of matches, he was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise that won the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2012 and 2014. He returned to the team as mentor for the 2024 season and KKR went on to lift their third IPL title. Subsequently, Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid as Team India's head coach.

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"MS is probably the most successful captain India will ever have" - When Gambhir hailed leader Dhoni

Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in white-ball cricket. Under him, the Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup in 2007, the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. Speaking to Star Sports during an interaction in April 2024, Gambhir described Dhoni as the most successful captain India probably will ever have. He said:

"MS is probably the most successful captain India will ever have. I don't think anyone can ever can reach that level, winning three ICC trophies. People can win overseas, people can win as many Test matches, but it cannot get bigger than three ICC trophies."

Dhoni is the only captain in world cricket to have won all three white-ball ICC trophies. As captain, he has also led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to five wins in the IPL. The 43-year-old was recently induced into the ICC Hall of Fame along with six other cricket legends. The keeper-batter played 538 international matches and amassed 17,266 runs at an average of 44.96, with 16 hundreds and 108 fifties.