Greg Chappell hails MS Dhoni as best Indian skipper of all-time 

No cricketer mastered the art of surprising people with as much deception as a certain MS Dhoni. Recently, he created ripples after announcing retirement from international cricket in the most unique manner. Dhoni's captaincy will be revered for ages, not only because of his monumental statistical achievements but how he impacted the cricketing culture of the very nation.

Greg Chappell, who saw Dhoni from close quarters when he was team India’s head coach at a time when the Jharkhand lad was a newbie, has showered huge praise on the wicket-keeper batsman by calling him the best ever Indian captain. Chappell, in fact, put Dhoni in the same elite category as Michael Brearley, Ian Chappell, Mark Taylor, and Clive Lloyd.

“In my opinion, he is the best Indian captain that I have seen and I would put him in the highest bracket of captains and leaders in the game in my experience. He is up there with Michael Brearley, Ian Chappell, Mark Taylor, and Clive Lloyd as the most inspirational captains of the past 50 years,” Chappell told IANS.

“My experience with Dhoni the cricketer and Dhoni the person were positive. He was very easy to work with because he was open and forthright. There was no false modesty with Dhoni; if he thought he could do something, he was confident enough to say that he could.”

It was only after the Australian stepped away as the coach of the Indian team that Dhoni took over captaincy, but the former team India head coach revealed that the wicket-keeper batsman exceeded all expectations. The 72-year-old noted that it was to Dhoni’s own credit that the Jharkhand lad went on to become one of the all time greats.  

“I enjoyed Dhoni’s humour and cheeky manner. He was a good competitor who loved a challenge. I enjoyed challenging him to be the best player that he could be.

“He exceeded any expectations that I had and he may have exceeded his own expectations. It is a great credit to him that he utilised his immense skills to become one of the great all-rounders of his era and an inspirational leader,” Chappell added.