Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir lauded his Chennai Super Kings stalwart MS Dhoni as the most successful Indian captain ahead of their highly-anticipated meeting in IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk on Monday.
Dhoni and Gambhir are among the most successful leaders in IPL history and their meetings over the early editions produced gripping contests. Even as Gambhir returns in KKR colours on the sidelines, Dhoni will be wearing the CSK yellow and remains an instrumental player on the field.
In a video shared by Star Sports on social media, Gambhir hailed Dhoni as India’s best leader. “I wanted to win. I am very clear in my mind. Friends, mutual respect, everything will remain. But when you are in the middle, I am captaining KKR and he is captaining CSK. If you ask him, he will probably give you the same answer. It’s about winning. Obviously, MS is the most successful captain India will ever have. I don’t think anyone can reach that level – winning 3 ICC trophies,” the 42-year-old Gambhir said.
Gambhir said Dhoni’s tactical nous made their head-to-head tussles in the IPL enjoyable.
“Even if they needed 20 runs in an over, and MS was in the middle, he could finish off that game. At the same time, I knew I had the bowling attack to challenge anyone in the Super Kings. I knew that tactically had to be better than him on every front because he is not that aggressive on the field, but I knew he would not give up. Chennai is that kind of a team, against whom you know you are not winning until the last ball was bowled,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir and Dhoni were instrumental in two of India’s three ICC title wins in the 21st century. Gambhir was the architect of India’s T20 World Cup final triumph against Pakistan in 2007 under the leadership. In the 2011 World Cup final against, the duo shared a 109-run stand for the fourth wicket while leading India to their second title.
