XtraTime Web Desk: Former India skipper MS Dhoni was very lucky that he had got great players when he was handed the Indian cricket team captaincy in all formats of the game, says former India opener Gautam Gambhir.
As Test captain, Dhoni is credited with being the first to lead India to the top of the Test rankings and Gambhir said that it is because of fast bowler Zaheer Khan that the team managed to be so successful.
“The reason Dhoni became such a successful captain in Test cricket is because of Zaheer Khan. He was a big blessing that Dhoni got, for which credit goes to Sourav Ganguly. According to me, Zaheer has been India’s best world-class bowler,” Gambhir said on the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
The 38-year-old was involved in two of India’s greatest achievements during Dhoni’s captaincy — the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup wins.
“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,” said Gambhir.
“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years!” These were Ravi Shastri’s words after Dhoni led India to a win in the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium with a humongous six off Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara.
The stylish left-hander had scored 97 while Dhoni, who had promoted himself to No 4, smashed an unbeaten 91 as India won by six wickets.