Dhoni was a lucky captain, won many trophies because he had best team, claims Gautam Gambhir

With a 50-over World Cup, a World T20 and a Champions Trophy to his name, MS Dhoni stands tall as one of the most successful captains in the history of the game. The wicket-keeper, after taking over as captain in 2007, eclipsed the achievements of all his predecessors and set the benchmark for greatness through his results, something that his successor Virat Kohli has struggled, big time, to replicate. 

“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.”

And, according to Gambhir, a primary reason for Dhoni’s success as skipper in the longest format was the presence of Zaheer Khan, who had some of his best years under the leadership of Dhoni. Gambhir asserted that Zaheer, who picked a total of 311 Test wickets, was India’s ‘best world class bowler’. 

“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 Ganguly. According to me, Zaheer has been India’s best world class bowler,” said the 38-year-old.