'MS Dhoni didn't let anyone feel insecure in the team, he didn't make changes': Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra concluded that the reason why India won so many big tournaments under MS Dhoni was because of the former wicketkeeper-batsman not letting the players feel insecure ahead of a big game.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra compared Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's captaincy in ICC tournament knockout games and concluded that the reason why India won so many big tournaments under Dhoni was because of the former wicketkeeper-batsman not letting the players feel insecure ahead of a big game.

Dhoni led India in four ICC tournament finals – the most – out of which India won three – the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI Word Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy – making him the only captain in the world till date to win all three ICC events.

Under current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s leadership, India had reached three ICC tournament finals. They lost two and shared the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka after the match was washed out.

Current India captain Virat Kohli is yet to get off the mark as far ICC trophies are concerned. He has captained in two finals – the 2017 Champions Trophy and the WTC but India lost them both.

Explaining Dhoni’s ‘maverick’ touch, Chopra said, under the legendary cricketers leadership, the Indian team flourished.

"Dhoni's class has been that under him the team has flourished. The few things I see that make Dhoni the best captain in the world is that he doesn't make changes. He didn't make anyone feel insecure in the team," Chopra said in his YouTube channel.

Chopra said Dhoni somehow managed to motivate the players to perform in knockout games.

"If you see his team from the league stage to the knockouts, the team and the protagonists have remained the same. He has always got players who make runs in the big encounters. When you reach the quarterfinals, semi-finals or a final, the team that makes the least mistakes wins, the team that panics the least and the team which consistently plays the same XI so that all players are secure in the end," he said.

Chopra also cited the performance of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 ODI World Cup to prove his point.

"That's what MS Dhoni did for his team. If you see the 2007 and 2011 finals, you will remember Gautam Gambhir. You will remember the entire 2011 World Cup for Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni himself in the final. In 2013, you will see consistent performances from everybody.

"In 2014, you were left behind because only Kohli's bat fired while it fell silent for the rest of the players. So Dhoni the captain will always be dependent on some players. The big-ticket players, they all came to the party in knockout matches,” he said.