'MS Dhoni deserves credit for winning Tests at home after Anil Kumble's retirement' - Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has mentioned that MS Dhoni deserves a lot of credit for winning Test matches in India post the retirement of Anil Kumble. He cited the number of spinners tried by Team India to partner Harbhajan Singh after the great Indian leg-spinner had called it a day.

In the latest episode of the Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Gambhir, along with Irfan Pathan and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, shared their views on MS Dhoni being a more successful captain than Sourav Ganguly at home.

While labelling MS Dhoni a better Test captain at home than Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir reasoned that the former had taken over the Indian team's captaincy post the retirement of Anil Kumble and thus did not have the luxury of a settled spin-bowling combination.

"There was a combination of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh during Sourav Ganguly's time. MS Dhoni got captaincy of Test cricket after Anil Kumble had retired."

"So he had to make a combination with Harbhajan Singh, whether it was Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja or Piyush Chawla - a lot of spinners played with Harbhajan Singh."

"So you need to give him some credit because bowlers only win you Test matches."

Kris Srikkanth mentioned that it was very tough to choose the better Test captain at home between MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, considering the series win the Indian team registered against Australia in 2001 under Dada's captaincy.

"It is a very difficult comparison. If you see the 2001 series against Australia, definitely Sourav Ganguly was fantastic in coming back and beating the Steve Waugh side."

But considering the same aspect of Anil Kumble, one of the greatest match-winners that India has produced, not being available in MS Dhoni's era, he opted for the wicketkeeper-batsman as the superior skipper at home.

"But overall impact at home, definitely I think Dhoni because Sourav had the benefit of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh while he was playing. Whereas Dhoni did not have that luxury."

#OnThisDay in 1999, Anil Kumble took all 10 wickets in a single Test innings! 🤯We have the perfect #FlashbackFriday with Harbhajan Singh talking about THAT game!#BreakfastWithChampions #BWC #OaktreeSports @gauravkapur @harbhajan_singh @anilkumble1074 pic.twitter.com/fjidUbAsFr

— @oaktreesport (@OaktreeSport) February 7, 2020

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Irfan Pathan on MS Dhoni's success in home conditions

MS Dhoni won 70% of the Test matches he captained at home

Irfan Pathan attributed MS Dhoni's greater success in home conditions to the confidence he had in his spinners. He also added that Sourav Ganguly did not have a great overall bowling combination in the initial stages of his captaincy.

"Difference was that MS Dhoni used to keep a lot of belief on spin bowlers. Sourav Ganguly did not have a great combination in the initial stages."

"Whether you talk of Zaheer Khan or the small duration I and Ashish Nehra played. But if you go by percentage of wins, he [MS Dhoni] is a little behind."

The Indian team won 21 out of the 30 Test matches at home under MS Dhoni's captaincy, for a win percentage of 70%. It was also under his leadership that India attained the World No.1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time.

Moment to Relish :Dhoni accepted d mace with India becoming d No.1 Test team in the ICC Test rankings #ThankYouDhoni pic.twitter.com/9zW0tqay0R

— Shankar (@shanmsd) December 30, 2014

Sourav Ganguly had a slightly lower success rate as a Test skipper in India with a win percentage of 48%, the team having won 10 out of the 21 Test matches under his leadership. But his greatest achievement was the iconic series win against Steve Waugh's all-conquering Australian side in 2001.