Dhoni might not have retained captaincy if India lost: Sourav Ganguly

During his time as Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly has seen his fair share of ups and downs. From the 2003 World Cup final loss to the 2002 NatWest ODI series win at Lord’s, the former Indian skipper has seen it all.

In that capacity, Ganguly has praised the Indian cricket team following their 3-2 series win over New Zealand. The win came shortly after the Indians cliched the win at Vizag after blasting the visitors out for a paltry 79 runs. Amit Mishra also managed a 5-wicket haul to add the cherry on the top, something most certainly unprecedented to say the least.

However, in spite of this, Sourav Ganguly believes that incumbent skipper MS Dhoni would have been under a tremendous amount of pressure had the Indians lost this series as well. This would be their second series loss on the spin after having lost the encounter against South Africa previously.

“He’ll be happy with this win in Vizag. Had India lost this series, Dhoni would have been under enormous pressure to retain his spot as captain. He’s fought hard and he’s fought hard today with the bat as well. He deserves this win,” Ganguly told India Today.

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Ganguly also went on to heap praise on the likes of Rohit Sharma who finally impressed with a fighting innings of 70 in the match.

“Whenever Rohit plays well, India win. It was great to see him play well. He’s a big match player. When they played Australia a couple of years ago, they were 2 all in the series and he scored a double hundred in the final game. It was once again an important game for Team India,” Ganguly said.

“It’s never easy playing in India when the ball spins and spinners are at their best. Teams have struggled in the past and teams in the future will. England are coming next month and life’s not going to be easy for them,” he said.

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