‘Dhoni’s like me’

Downplaying the myth surrounding his captaincy, Ganguly laid down the simple logic behind his leadership. “I just did what I felt was right. I never was a captain who believed in the drawing board. It was a phase where we needed to take Indian cricket forward. I was lucky to have players such as Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Harbhajan, Viru, Anil playing their best cricket at that stage between 2000 and 2005. That helped and you saw the results overseas. I always believe that a captain is only as good as his team.”

He said he saw signs of his style of leadership in MS Dhoni. “I see a lot of the way I led in Dhoni. He doesn’t believe a lot in team meetings. He does what he sees on the cricket field. Being behind the stumps, he probably has a better view than I had,” Ganguly said, before leading on to more full-fledged praise of Dhoni, adding that Indian cricket was in good hands with him at the helm.

“He’s done wonderfully well so far with his win in the Twenty20 World Cup, in the ODI series in Australia and in beating Australia here. I know he has the abilities to take Indian cricket forward. Cricket needs a spark, it’s not just preparation and homework. MS has that spark on the field. And he has that extra bit of luck which you require in captaincy. He will be tested when India go overseas. I’m sure if the boys around him play well, he will definitely succeed.”

... contd.