Sourav Ganguly better than MS Dhoni, Ricky Ponting in captaincy: Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza recently picked former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly as his favourite captain of all time. Mortaza himself boasts of a successful captaincy record as he led Bangladesh to their first-ever World Cup quarter-final in 2015. In March, the seasoned pacer stepped down from the role after leading the national side in a home series against Zimbabwe.

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Mashrafe Mortaza compares Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni

In an interview with Business Standard, Mashrafe Mortaza was asked to pick his favourite Bangladesh captain of all time. Without any hesitation, Mortaza picked Habibul Bashar. The right-arm pacer then named Sourav Ganguly, Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni as some of the captains he admired in international cricket. Upon being asked to pick between the three, Mortaza named Sourav Ganguly as his favourite and stated that the current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President was “very different” than the others.

He then went on to praise the leadership skills of Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni. He stated that while Ricky Ponting was “lucky” to have a strong Australian unit, a team with big names still requires to be taken care of. The pacer then mentioned that he chose MS Dhoni as his third favourite captain because he has seen the veteran Indian wicketkeeper in action throughout his career. Mortaza admitted to hearing a lot about former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan but also confessed to not seeing him in action enough to garner his attention.

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A glance at Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni’s decorated captaincy stints

Interestingly, both Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni boast of three World Cup triumphs and have one T20 World Cup and three Champions Trophies between them as leaders for their respective national sides. Apart from their success at major events, the two former skippers have also led their countries to the top of the ICC Test rankings. While Ricky Ponting retired in 2012 after playing 17 years of top-flight cricket, MS Dhoni has been on a sabbatical from international cricket since the 2019 World Cup.

Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy record

Sourav Ganguly was appointed as India’s captain in 2000. During his tenure, talented Indian cricketers like Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were groomed quite early in their careers. Sourav Ganguly led India to an incredible comeback in the Test series win against Australia in 2001 and led the ‘Men in Blue’ to their runners-up campaign at the 2003 World Cup. Overall, the experienced batsman led India to 21 victories in 49 Tests and 76 wins in 146 ODIs between 2000 and 2005.

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