'I don't agree with Gautam Gambhir that MS Dhoni didn't give enough quality players to Virat Kohli' - Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra recently opined that MS Dhoni moulded as many match-winners for India as Sourav Ganguly did during his era as captain. He put forth the names of all such quality players who came to the fore during the Captain Cool's reign as the Indian skipper.
Aakash Chopra shared his opinion on his YouTube channel in the context of the recent claims made by Gautam Gambhir that Sourav Ganguly had given a lot more match-winners to MS Dhoni than the latter gave to Virat Kohli.
Aakash Chopra concurred with Gautam Gambhir that Sourav Ganguly had indeed done a phenomenal job, having built a winning team after the match-fixing saga.
"He is absolutely right that Sourav Ganguly gave a lot of match-winners to India. Dada even took over captaincy when cricket was in difficulty due to the black clouds of match-fixing hovering over it and the public's belief lost."
"From that situation to develop a team that went abroad and won, the eye for talent was absolutely fantastic."
The reputed commentator went on to list the players who came to the fore during Sourav Ganguly's captaincy including Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
"The first one was Virender Sehwag, whom Dada gave lot of confidence as well as opportunities even when he was getting dismissed cheaply."
"Yuvraj Singh was taken from the under-19 level and had a sequence of bad performances for a long time after the initial success in the Champions Trophy. But he was backed just like Viru."
"Harbhajan Singh was an absolute match-winner. He was nowhere, Dada picked him suddenly and made him play the Australia series. And the rest is history, a definite match-winner under Dada."
He also pointed out some of the other players who were given to Indian cricket by Sourav Ganguly including Mohammad Kaif, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir.
Aakash Chopra on the match-winners produced by MS Dhoni
Aakash Chopra highlighted the difficult task MS Dhoni had of handling the transition of the Indian cricket team with the established senior players towards the end of their careers.
"MS Dhoni's biggest challenge was the transition from an established team which had so many legends, but were on their way down from their lofty heights. You need to blood the youngsters but how do you do that without ignoring or offending a senior."
"In my opinion, Dhoni's task was very difficult and a person like Dhoni was only required there, who could manage the team tactically with care and also manage the transition."
The gritty opener then talked about the outstanding players who came to the fore with MS Dhoni as the Indian captain including the three players - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah - who were mentioned by Gautam Gambhir.
"Players who came under him include Virat Kohli himself, who could have been dropped after the England tour if it was some other captain but Dhoni stood with him. Rohit Sharma got to those heights under Dhoni."
"Jasprit Bumrah also came when MS Dhoni was about to give up ODI captaincy and he got settled before Dhoni left."
Aakash Chopra listed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina as some of the match-winners who blossomed under MS Dhoni.
He also pointed out Hardik Pandya, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal as some of the other players who started their career under the 2011 World Cup-winning captain.
Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that the initial comparison between Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni itself was wrong and the latter had given as many match-winners to Indian cricket as Dada had done, if not more.
"The list is quite long and exhaustive. It is not like Dhoni has not prepared a team or not given match-winners."
"According to me, it is a wrong comparison and it is a slightly incorrect outcome as well. I personally don't agree with the opinion, I feel the team that Kohli got was assembled with great love by MS Dhoni."
MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly are two of the most successful captains in Indian cricketing history. The duo has given Indian cricket plenty of outstanding players, who have gone on to serve the team for a long time and brought laurels to the country.