The first cricket test between India and Australia of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2013 concluded in Chennai and the Indians thumped the Aussies by 8 wickets. The highlights of this test included a wonderful century by the Aussie skipper Michael Clarke, an impressive debut by Moises Henriques, a 12 wicket haul by Ravichandran Ashwin, a century by Virat Kohli and a superlative counter attacking double century by the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni .
For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this first win of the series must have a thing to cherish. Having lost a series against the English and with an indifferent batting form, there had been persistent talks for drastic measures including sacking Dhoni as the captain and even dropping him from the test cricket team, But Dhoni has let his bat do the talking for him and has ,at least for the present, silenced his detractors. A true champion's response this.
With this 21st test win Dhoni become the joint most successful Indian test captain ever equaling former skipper Sourav Chandidas Ganguly's tally of 21 wins. There have been quite a long debate over the years about who the most successful Indian test captain has ever been. Ganguly or Dhoni? If you go by the trophies in the cupboard then Dhoni wins hands down. With a T-20 world cup, a ODI world cup and the title of best ICC Test Team in its pockets, the Indian cricket team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni has achieved things that it had never achieved before. The previous best being the 1983 World Cup under Kapil Dev.
Then why the comparison between Ganguly and Dhoni?? Ganguly took over the reigns of the cricket team at its darkest hours. The match fixing scandal had claimed former captain Mohammad Azaharuddin and premier cricketers like Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar had been disgraced. Cricket no longer remained a "Gentleman's Sport". Ganguly stepped in when an unwilling Sachin(the God)Tendulkar relinquished his post as Indian cricket captain. The Indian team was in complete disarray. Individual geniuses were there but the team was not unified and going nowhere.
Under Ganguly, legends of Indian cricket like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan besides Tendulkar all bloomed into their full potential. New finds like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan and even Mahendra Dhoni were hand picked by Ganguly. A rag tag team of talented 11 gradually embarked upon their journey to become world beaters. In 2003, against all odds Team India reached the finals of the World Cup in South Africa. India started beating the cricketing powers like Australia and England in their own dens. The Indian cricket team under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly was now being feared by the opposition, the world over.
After the end of the Ganguly era, Dhoni inherited a team whose core was formed during the time of Ganguly. Dhoni under his able stewardship was able to guide the team towards further fulfillment of its evident promise. The bad days for Dhoni's captaincy started when the stalwarts of Indian cricket like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired from cricket and the forms of Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj and even Tendulkar dipped.
The progress of the Indian cricket team from now on would be the actual test of Mahandra Singh Dhoni's mettle as a captain and leader of men.because in my opinion to channelize the energies of talented people is probably easier than to spot the talents, channelize their energies, make them believe in themselves and urge them to attain greater glory, a task in which Ganguly proved to be a past master.
For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this first win of the series must have a thing to cherish. Having lost a series against the English and with an indifferent batting form, there had been persistent talks for drastic measures including sacking Dhoni as the captain and even dropping him from the test cricket team, But Dhoni has let his bat do the talking for him and has ,at least for the present, silenced his detractors. A true champion's response this.
With this 21st test win Dhoni become the joint most successful Indian test captain ever equaling former skipper Sourav Chandidas Ganguly's tally of 21 wins. There have been quite a long debate over the years about who the most successful Indian test captain has ever been. Ganguly or Dhoni? If you go by the trophies in the cupboard then Dhoni wins hands down. With a T-20 world cup, a ODI world cup and the title of best ICC Test Team in its pockets, the Indian cricket team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni has achieved things that it had never achieved before. The previous best being the 1983 World Cup under Kapil Dev.
Then why the comparison between Ganguly and Dhoni?? Ganguly took over the reigns of the cricket team at its darkest hours. The match fixing scandal had claimed former captain Mohammad Azaharuddin and premier cricketers like Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar had been disgraced. Cricket no longer remained a "Gentleman's Sport". Ganguly stepped in when an unwilling Sachin(the God)Tendulkar relinquished his post as Indian cricket captain. The Indian team was in complete disarray. Individual geniuses were there but the team was not unified and going nowhere.
Under Ganguly, legends of Indian cricket like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan besides Tendulkar all bloomed into their full potential. New finds like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan and even Mahendra Dhoni were hand picked by Ganguly. A rag tag team of talented 11 gradually embarked upon their journey to become world beaters. In 2003, against all odds Team India reached the finals of the World Cup in South Africa. India started beating the cricketing powers like Australia and England in their own dens. The Indian cricket team under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly was now being feared by the opposition, the world over.
After the end of the Ganguly era, Dhoni inherited a team whose core was formed during the time of Ganguly. Dhoni under his able stewardship was able to guide the team towards further fulfillment of its evident promise. The bad days for Dhoni's captaincy started when the stalwarts of Indian cricket like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired from cricket and the forms of Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj and even Tendulkar dipped.
The progress of the Indian cricket team from now on would be the actual test of Mahandra Singh Dhoni's mettle as a captain and leader of men.because in my opinion to channelize the energies of talented people is probably easier than to spot the talents, channelize their energies, make them believe in themselves and urge them to attain greater glory, a task in which Ganguly proved to be a past master.
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