Gautam Gambhir is one of the few players to have played under the captaincy of both Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. He recently expressed that Ganguly had to work hard as a captain, unlike Dhoni.

Ganguly who became the captain in 2000 after the match-fixing scandal further went on to captain India until 2005. On the other hand, MS Dhoni has led India to the title of 2007 World T20, 2011 World cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. India also achieved the number one ranking in Tests under Dhoni.

Ganguly worked hard as captain, unlike Dhoni – Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, who played under both captains was recently quoted saying that Dhoni was a very lucky captain. He said that India won the 2011 World Cup due to the presence of experienced players in the side. For him, Ganguly as a captain had to really work hard to bring the team-up.

“Dhoni has been a very lucky captain because he got an amazing team in every format. Captaining 2011 World Cup team was very easy for Dhoni because we had players like Sachin, Sehwag, myself, Yuvraj, Yusuf, Virat, so he had got the best teams, while Ganguly had to work very hard for it, and as a result, Dhoni won so many trophies,” he said on Star Sports Show Cricket Connected. 

When we compare the ICC trophies each captain has won, MS Dhoni is clearly the front runner with three ICC trophies. Sourav Ganguly, on the other hand, has led India to the final of 2003 World Cup and won the 2002 Champions Trophy. Dhoni as a captain has led India in 8 different tournaments and has won three of them.

Ganguly went through a rebuilding phase in the year 2000 after Azharuddin received a ban for match-fixing. On the flip side, Dhoni faced a tough grind in the test format. The retirements of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman had put India in a difficult position.