Zaheer Khan has drawn a comparison between the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, two Indian captains he played under in his international cricket career. Drawing a parallel between two of India’s most successful captains, Zaheer, who developed under the former and was the team’s bowling captain under the later, said that he found similarities between both Ganguly and Dhoni’s ways in guiding youngsters in the team. The World Cup-winning pacer also pointed out how the baton of leadership has been passed from one captain to other almost every decade in Indian cricket. India Tour of Australia 2020-21: Adelaide Oval Hotel Could Serve As Quarantine Base for Indian Team Ahead of the Series.

Recalling the support he received from Ganguly when he entered the team as a youngster, Zaheer said that that support was important in shaping his career. The 41-year-old also praised MS Dhoni for developing the skills of mentoring the younger players once the senior pros started retiring from international cricket. When Sachin Tendulkar Struggled to Face the Short-Pitch Deliveries From Australian Pacers, Shaun Pollock Reveals How Master Blaster Tackled the Situation.

"That's (Backing from Ganguly) what you need at that stage of your career. When you're starting your careers at the international level, you need all the support you can and then it will be upto you to shape your career. But that initial support is very vital," Zaheer Khan said in a YouTube chat show with Gaurav Kapur."Both of them have led India for a long time. With MS [Dhoni], I have seen that change as well.”

While Ganguly is credited for backing youngsters and turning into match winners and legends of Indian cricket, Dhoni is acclaimed for taking over a team under transition and making them World Champions and leaders. A d recalling Dhoni’s contribution Zaheer pointed on how Dhoni played a similar role to what Ganguly had done with the young players in the Indian team during his captaincy.

"When MS got the team, he had a lot of senior players who were experienced at the international level,” said Zaheer. “So he didn't have to do much in terms of getting them up to speed. But once all those guys started retiring, when the young batch came in, he played a similar kind of role, did similar kind of things to what Dada was doing with the young lot. In Indian cricket, every decade the captain has passed the baton to the next in line and the person who has taken the baton has led to the team to the next level."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2020 04:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).