Melbourne, Dec 27:
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that current skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not been able to get the best out of the team at the Test level for quite some time despite being the leader for close to 60 matches.
Ganguly, who has been an expert commentator in the ongoing Test series between India and Australia, termed Dhoni’s record as an ODI captain has been exceptional but said the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman has been struggling for some time as the skipper at the five-day format.
“It’s not just these two matches, it’s for a while now (that Dhoni has struggled). He just has not really got the team going at Test match level. That’s up to the selectors but he has had a lot of time as captain, close to 60 Test matches. I think he has had a lot of time,” Ganguly said.
“I think Dhoni is a good captain. The record he has in one-day cricket, he is a good captain. But in Test conditions overseas, it’s just fallen away a bit. This series is not over yet so maybe we can talk differently at the end of this series. Hopefully he can reinvent himself and find a way to lead this team forward,” he added.
Ganguly spoke highly of combative vice-captain Virat Kohli, whom he termed as the “future” of Indian cricket.
“I think he (Kohli) is the future. He will be captain of India. You need positivity. You need positive captains. M S will captain at the World Cup, then we’ll have to see what happens after that,” the former left-handed batsman said.
“I like his (Kohli’s) passion. You’ve got to have passion. It should mean something to you, any job you do. I like him, I like what I see,” he was quoted as saying in ‘Daily Telegraph’.
Dhoni, 33, has played 90 Tests, but Ganguly said that he should continue to play on under Kohli if a captaincy change was decided upon.
“Absolutely. When Sachin finished as Test captain, he played under me. When I finished as Test captain, I played under Dravid. Dravid played under MS. Ricky Ponting played under Michael Clarke. I do not think that’s a problem,” he said.
“As you long as you keep performing, captaincy is just one role. Your major role should be to contribute to the team.”. (PTI)
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