Would pick Dhoni over Gambhir as best captain but both are good, reckons Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla made his debut for the national team at the age of 17, in a Test match against England. From thereon, whilst his Indian career did not take off well as expected, the leg-spinner made his presence well-known on the domestic scene.

The leg-spinner from Aligarh is one of the fewest players to have played both under the leadership of MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. When asked about his experience of having played under both of them, Chawla reckoned that both of them have identical styles of captaincy. However, if he had to pick one between the two, the 31-year-old picked Dhoni ahead of Gambhir’s captaincy. 

“Best I would still say Mahi Bhai (MS Dhoni). You can't really compare two captains, to be honest as everyone has a different way of looking at it. Sometimes Gauti Bhai used to say that you can do a thing this way...it might happen. On the other hand, if you say Dhoni also, he also leaves it to you,” Chawla said, reported Times Now. 

Whilst Chawla played Dhoni’s leadership during his time with the national team, following the 2007-08 season, he was part of the two-time IPL winning franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, under Gambhir’s captaincy, where he played from 2014-19. Ahead of the 2020 edition, the former KXIP spinner was picked by CSK, with his first IPL campaign under the guidance of MS Dhoni. Chawla also stated how both of them would leave it to the bowlers to look at the situation and bowl accordingly. 

“So you can't really compare. There are a few common things in them. They would leave it upon you as a bowler. If that doesn't work out, then they will shift to plan B,” he added.