MS Dhoni the No. 1 captain in IPL 2021, states Gautam Gambhir

Ahead of the Qualifier 1 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) Gautam Gambhir has praised MS Dhoni and called him the No. 1 captain of the 14th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, CSK, who could not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in IPL 2020, came all guns blazing this year to become the first team to make it to the final four and enter the next stage of the cash-rich league. Despite the limited resources and some out-of-form players, Dhoni marshalled his troop beautifully, receiving praises from every nook and corner. 

The three-time champions lost their last three league matches but managed to finish second behind DC on the points table. A top-two finish has given them the cushion of an extra match in the playoffs, thereby an extra shot for a place in the final which will be played on October 15. 

Gambhir also reflected on the captaincy of new Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant, saying that the youngster has an advantage of having experienced players like Steve Smith and Ravichandran Ashwin in the eleven. 

"Purely from the captaincy point of view who can handle the pressure best, probably has to be Dhoni. Rishabh has the advantage from a point of view that he's got a lot of experience in the playing XI.

"If Steve Smith plays, he's got him alongside. He has got Ravichandran Ashwin who has captained earlier as well... so for me Dhoni is No. 1 at the moment," Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.

Further, the two-time IPL-winning captain lauded Virat Kohli - the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain, saying that the 32-year-old has been enjoying his last stint as the leader of the franchise and doing some fabulous job with the team. 

"Virat has been fabulous. Honestly, I have not enjoyed a lot of his captaincy, but this time around, he's been very, very good. Probably the reason is because he thinks this is his last time as captain in IPL, (so) he wants to enjoy it more; he's just more relaxed. And he's got the bowlers this time," added Gambhir.

'Eoin Morgan doesn't captain KKR'

The former southpaw looked highly unimpressed with KKR captain Eoin Morgan who according to him takes cue from the video analyst to do his job on the field.

"Morgan's point of view, I'm not sure because he doesn't captain, so it's the video analyst that captains the side. He only just looks at the video analyst, so I don't know whether he's the captain on the field or (if the) captaincy is happening off the field," Gambhir said.