Gautam Gambhir & MS Dhoni's captaincy styles decoded by ex- KKR tournament director

Former Kolkata Knight Riders Team Director Joy Bhattacharya has decoded the contrasting styles of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his former Indian team-mate Gautam Gambhir. MS Dhoni has been captaining Chennai Super Kings since the inception of IPL in 2008 and has led them to three IPL as well as two CLT20 (Now-defunct) triumphs. Gambhir on the other hand has led  Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in his seven-year stint with the franchise from 2011 to 2017. KKR had beaten CSK in the 2012 IPL final but, Dhoni & Co. returned the favor in the 2014 CLT20 final. 

'Dhoni is Mr. Cool': Bhattacharya

“Dhoni is Mr. Cool but Gambhir can never be cool. So What do you say when you have somebody like a Dhoni? He is the coolest guy, they play chilled cricket, don’t worry about results, they will come just play cricket. He’s so calm that he will sort it out", Joy Bhattacharya had told the renowned sports anchor/broadcaster, Gaurav Kapur, on his show '22 Yarns'.

“You can’t play that narrative with Gautam. So what do you do when you have a Gautam in the team? You don’t say that he is captain cool, he is the guy who will take a bullet for his players, he has got all passion”, the former KKR Team Director added. 

Gambhir had retired from all forms of cricket in 2018. He had played his last IPL in the same season where he had captained the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils but could not lead them to the playoffs. Mahi on the other hand has been on a sabbatical from the game ever since India's heartbreaking World Cup 2019 semi-final loss at the hands of New Zealand in July last year. He was all set to lead CSK in IPL 2020 that was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29 but has been suspended indefinitely due to the global pandemic. 

At the same time, the 2011 World Cup-winning skipper was about to make his return to competitive cricket with this year's  Indian Premier League.