MS Dhoni pips Sourav Ganguly as India's best ever captain in Star Sports' special survey

Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni are arguably two of India's most accomplished Indian captains. BCCI President brought about a revolution in Indian team and changed way game was played with his aggressive captaincy. Sourav Ganguly also captained India and reorganised  team after match-fixing scandal in 2000s and build a fearless brand of Indian cricket which transformed Indian cricket. Team India climbed up to .2 position in ICC Test and ODI rankings under Sourav Ganguly at one point of time. India also won ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 (joint-winners) and made it to final of 2003 World Cup with Sourav Ganguly at helm.

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MS Dhoni edges past Sourav Ganguly as India's best captain by barest of margins

On or hand, MS Dhoni is kwn for his astute understanding of game. CSK captain took Indian cricket to new levels and made Indian team a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. MS Dhoni is only captain in world to have all three ICC trophies in his cabinet (2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy). He also led  Indian team to much-desired .1 spot in world Test rankings.

Besides being two of most successful Indian captains, ar common factor between two is proximity in ir birthdays. CSK skipper celebrates his birthday on July 7 while Sourav Ganguly celebrates it a day later on July 8. To commemorate birthdays of both veterans, Star Sports conducted a survey where several aspects of ir leadership were taken into consideration.

When results came out, it was CSK star who beat BCCI President by barest of margins. MS Dhoni's batting skills proved out to be ultimate difference-maker. In each category, an aver score was calculated from each panel members’ votes. After results of each were totalled toger, CSK captain was ahead by less than half a point.

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se eight categories were:

1. Test captaincy record (Home)
2. Test captaincy record (Away)
3. Captaincy record (Test and ODI)
4. Teams y inherited and how y were transformed (Across formats)
5. Teams y left behind (Across formats)
6. Batting record as captain (Test and ODI)
7. Major Achievements (Across formats)
8. Overall impact as captain

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results were as follows:

1. Away Test wins: Sourav Ganguly (7.2) beats MS Dhoni (5.5)
2. ODI captaincy: MS Dhoni (8.1) beats Sourav Ganguly (6.8)
3. Transforming teams: Sourav Ganguly (8.6) beats MS Dhoni (7.3)
4. Teams left behind: Sourav Ganguly (7.8) beats MS Dhoni (7.6)
5. Achievements as a captain: MS Dhoni (8.5) beats Sourav Ganguly (7.2)
6. Batting record as captain: MS Dhoni (7.8) beats Sourav Ganguly (7.4)
7. Overall impact: Sourav Ganguly (8.1) beats MS Dhoni (7.9)

Former cricketers like Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan and Kris Srikkanth were players who voted in survey. Dhoni’s total came to 60.9, only 0.4 points more than Ganguly’s 60.5. 

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IM COURTESY: TWITTER/ TRUEMAHESHFANS/ AP