‘MS Dhoni’s captaincy is mixture of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid’: India 2007 T20 World Cup-winning manager
Lalchand Rajput, who was the team manager of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team, says that he saw traits of both Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in young Dhoni’s captaincy during the tournament.
The 2007 T20 World Cup win is still etched in the minds of every Indian cricket fan. A young side led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni went on to defy all odds to win the inaugural T20 World Cup trophy. The final against Pakistan was a thrilling encounter and cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan and Joginder Sharma were hailed as unlikely heroes from the tournament. But for Dhoni, it proved to be a career-changing event. MS Dhoni became the face of Indian cricket, and two years later, he was leading India as captain across all three formats. In 2011, Dhoni led India to ODI World Cup win, and followed it up with 2013 Champions Trophy win.
Lalchand Rajput, who was the team manager of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team, says that he saw traits of both Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in young Dhoni’s captaincy during the tournament.
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Speaking in a Facebook Live interaction with Sportskeeda, Rajput said: “To be very honest, he was very, very calm. He used to think two steps ahead. A captain has to think, he has to make decisions on the ground. If you would give him a situation, he would be like ‘but what if he do this, then what would we do’. So, he would always be two steps ahead.”
“He was a thinking captain. He was a mixture of Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Because he was calm. Ganguly was very, very aggressive, but he was also very positive in thinking. He [Ganguly] used to give players a lot of confidence. Ganguly was the one who changed the mentality of the Indian team and I think it was just carried forward by Dhoni,” Rajput added.
“He gave a lot of confidence to the players, and if Dhoni felt like a certain player had potential, he made sure he gave that player got enough opportunities,” he further said.
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“If you look at Dhoni, he would never shout at the players, he would never use foul language on the field, he would remain calm. The players were happy, and they would give their best. Rather, than giving their best, they came up with ideas, that we would do this,” the former cricketer added.
