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Former Australian left-arm spinner Brad Hogg has opined that he would rate MS Dhoni as a slightly better captain than Ricky Ponting owing to the politics that the Indian legend might have had to deal with. He admitted that there was very little to choose between the two when it came to leadership skills.
Ponting led Australia to consecutive ODI World Cup wins in 2003 and 2007. As for Dhoni, he is the only captain to have won all three white-ball ICC crowns - the ODI and T20 World Cup as well as the Champions Trophy.
In a Q&A session on his YouTube channel on Monday, December 19, Hogg was asked to pick the better captain between Ponting and Dhoni. Analyzing the leadership stints of the two legends, Hogg replied:
“Ricky Ponting had a wonderful team. MS Dhoni had a great team as well. For me, both did exceptionally well, both have got a fantastic record. You cannot separate them. I’d say that MS Dhoni probably had more politics to deal with in Indian cricket than what Ricky Ponting did. That probably puts Dhoni slightly in front of Ricky Ponting.”
The 51-year-old also admitted that Ponting had a comparatively easier job as captain because of the number of match-winners the team possessed during his tenure. Hogg elaborated:
“The other thing with Ricky Ponting is he had a lot of cricketers around that were really experienced and knew their roles and knew what to do as well. He only had to control certain aspects of the game. Most of the attitudes of the players, the discipline of the players, the plans of the players knowing what to do, they all knew it.
“It’s a tough one, but MS Dhoni with the extra politics that he might have had in India, probably just puts him in front. Sorry, Ricky!”
While Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, he continues to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. Ponting is also involved with the T20 league as Delhi Capitals’ (DC) head coach.
Dhoni and Ponting’s captaincy stats
Ponting led Australia in 77 Tests, of which the team won 48 and lost only 16. Thirteen Tests that Ponting led ended in a draw. He is second on the list of most successful Test captains in terms of wins.
Only South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53) has won more Tests as skipper. Dhoni led India to 27 wins in 60 Tests.
In the ODIs, Ponting and Dhoni are the two most successful captains when it comes to the number of victories. The Aussie led his country to 165 wins in 230 matches, while MSD captained India to 110 wins in 200 ODIs.
