MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have been two of India's most successful captains. They have enjoyed playing alongside each other and have also captained each other with great success. Dhoni, in particular, has been India's most successful captain. Under his leadership, India won three ICC titles and became a formidable force at home, especially in white-ball cricket. His calm demeanor and strategic thinking were instrumental in India's success.
Kohli, on the other hand, helped India achieve significant victories overseas. During his captaincy, India won a Test series in Australia for the first time. This marked a turning point in India's Test cricket performance.
Sanjay Bangar compares MS Dhoni-Virat Kohli captaincy
Kohli has been a significant inspiration to a generation of Indian cricket fans, not only for his exceptional cricketing skills but also for his commitment to fitness and health. Under Kohli's leadership, India adopted a new strategy of playing with five proper bowlers. This aggressive approach posed a significant challenge to opposition batters and contributed to India's success in Test cricket.
Kohli's captaincy tenure was highly successful. The only blemish on his record was the failure to win an ICC title. However, his leadership qualities were undeniable. Both Kohli and Dhoni excelled as both players and captains. Their captaincy roles seemed to bring out the best in them, and neither was negatively impacted by the pressure of leadership.
Sanjay Bangar, who has worked closely with both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, discussed their distinct leadership styles in a recent episode of the Rao Podcast.
"MS as a captain made sure that he eliminated all risks and he thought of all angles before walking in. He was of that belief that if I am walking into something I should know everything about it, I should cut down all risks and only then I will take a call,"
I will wait for the opposition to make a mistake and that actually helped him achieve phenomenal success in ODI cricket or white-ball cricket, wherein he mastered the art of handling spinners and he read the game so well. That was his hallmark
Bangar has his say on Kohli's captaincy
Bangar continued by discussing Virat Kohli's unique leadership style. While Dhoni maintained a calm and composed demeanor, Kohli was known for his aggressive and confrontational approach. Kohli's competitive nature and willingness to engage with the opposition seemed to motivate him and bring out his best performance.
"As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, he was driven by the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 percent of the time, you will have to play poorly to lose in India because that is the skill and the talent that we possess,"
"As far as Virat Kohli is concerned, he was driven by the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 percent of the time, you will have to play poorly to lose in India because that is the skill and the talent that we possess,"
It is basically the challenge of winning outside and that is where Virat's contribution has been massive in terms of identifying that the team is going to play with five pure bowlers, wherein the batsman will need to take extra responsibility, but we make sure that we dismiss the opposition twice
It is basically the challenge of winning outside and that is where Virat's contribution has been massive in terms of identifying that the team is going to play with five pure bowlers, wherein the batsman will need to take extra responsibility, but we make sure that we dismiss the opposition twice
Both Kohli and Dhoni excelled as captains, leading India to numerous victories across all formats. Kohli captained India in 200 matches, winning 128 and losing 55, resulting in a winning percentage of 64%. Dhoni, on the other hand, led India in 332 matches, winning 178 and losing 120, with a winning percentage of 53.61. Notably, Dhoni is the only Indian captain to have won three ICC trophies.
