When you think of Indian cricket, the name MS Dhoni becomes synonymous. Dhoni may not have been the greatest Indian batter of all time, but holds his position pretty solidly in the pantheons of India's legendary cricketers. The only captain ever to win all three major ICC trophies, there will be none like Dhoni. The ability to deal with situations calmly, the knack of pulling a rabbit out of the hat, and finishing matches for India were some of the traits that made Dhoni stand head and shoulders above the rest. Virat Kohli may be the country's most successful Test skipper of all time, but Dhoni redefined the term 'captaincy' in Indian cricket. Dhoni, Kohli and Sourav Ganguly are three of the finest leaders produced by India. Kohli made his debut under Dhoni in 2008, much like MSD did under Ganguly in 2004. So there's that. Had it not been for Ganguly, who knows how long Dhoni might have had to wait.
Speaking of Ganguly and Dhoni, pictures of the two former captains standing together and chatting had gone viral on social media a few days ago. Even though it was from a commercial shoot, the fact that Dhoni and Ganguly were spotted in the same frame in a candid avatar was enough to trigger a social media meltdown. Ganguly weighed in on his meeting with Dhoni and paid a stellar tribute to the former India wicketkeeper, explaining how MSD's impact in Indian cricket soars way beyond his statistics.
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"When you speak about MS Dhoni, it's not just about the matches he has played. It's the impact that he has had on Indian cricket. I met him a couple of days ago in Mumbai; we both were shooting. He's an absolute champion. One of the all-time greats of Indian cricket, winning World Cups, coming from the state of Ranchi which hardly produced any players," Ganguly said during the Sportstar East Sports Conclave in Kolkata on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}"When you speak about MS Dhoni, it's not just about the matches he has played. It's the impact that he has had on Indian cricket. I met him a couple of days ago in Mumbai; we both were shooting. He's an absolute champion. One of the all-time greats of Indian cricket, winning World Cups, coming from the state of Ranchi which hardly produced any players," Ganguly said during the Sportstar East Sports Conclave in Kolkata on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}While an entire book may fall short on what makes Dhoni a once in a lifetime player, one of his many staggering contributions is Indian cricket is to make budding cricketers in rural India follow their dreams. Once the boy from Ranchi won India a World Cup in 2007, cricketers from small towns believed that they too can break barriers and make it big. From the current Indian team, Ishan Kishan is another boy from the state of Jharkhand who is making waves in international cricket – some even feel he is the heir to Dhoni considering the similar attacking styles of both batters – and Ganguly reckons that was made possible because of what MSD achieve as captain.
"I feel proud - I can't keep saying it - that two of India's pretty successful captains came from a part of the country where people thought cricket wasn't at its best. That's where MS Dhoni comes in; he's actually changed a generation of players around him to believe that 'I can be successful' from here. Look at Ishan Kishan, look at the way he plays international cricket," the former BCCI president added.