For me, Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni are on the same page in terms of captaincy: Maninder Singh

Indian cricket has been the story of great players coming to the fore from time to time and taking the great game forward. From Sunil Gavaskar to Virat Kohli, cricket has seen the greatest legends emerging. There also persists a great tendency of some very fine leaders emerging in Indian cricket for years now.

Whenever the talk in the town is about the Indian leadership in cricket, three names, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, and MS Dhoni, come to everyone’s mind immediately. These legends have given the Indian cricket some of its glorious moments, be it the 1983 World Cup win, the Natwest trophy final victory, and the 2011 World Cup triumph, all are cherished the same way even today.

Dhoni was lucky to have Sourav before him, says Maninder

The debates have always been going in the cricketing fraternity about the best captain. Everyone has put forth their choices in some or the other way. Recently, former Indian cricketer Maninder Singh also shared his views on the topic and praised Ganguly for instilling a good attitude into the Indian team. He also said that Dhoni had the fortune of having Sourav led the side before him.

“Dhoni was lucky that Kapil Dev won us the World Cup in 1983 then Dhoni was lucky that before him it was Sourav Ganguly, who made us believe that we can beat any team and in any conditions, so Dhoni got that,” said Maninder in an interview to Hindustan Times. He also recalled that the self-belief was missing from the Indian team back in 1983 but it was Kapil’s captaincy that helped them pull off the unthinkable.

“When Kapil Dev was the captain that belief was missing. Otherwise, the positivity, the calmness, the captaincy instincts of these two is the same. For me, Kapil and Dhoni are on the same page. If Kapil had somebody else who had won us the world cup before him, then he could also have been a greater captain,” he opined.

Maninder also shared his views on Sourav’s captaincy and said that Dada was the best judge of talent as he backed the players like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh among others and eventually they turned match-winners for India in years to come. “I loved Ganguly’s captaincy. See what all he has given Indian cricket.

“He was a great judge of talent. He pulled out Yuvraj from the dumps, he got back Harbhajan Singh when he was dropped,” the 55-year-old added.