No Surprises As Ambati Rayudu Picks MS Dhoni As India's No.1 Captain. Virat Kohli Down At...
MS Dhoni's named had popped up after Ambati Rayudu had already ranked the other five former India captains.
- Ambati Rayudu ranked MS Dhoni as India’s finest all-format captain at number one
- Rohit Sharma was placed second in Rayudu’s ranking of Indian all-format captains
- Virat Kohli was ranked fifth due to his Test success, despite limited white-ball impact
Former batter Ambati Rayudu blind ranked some of India's finest all format captains from number one to six. In a video shared by ESPNcricinfo, Rayudu was asked to rank the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, Rohit Sharma, Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin. As expected, Rayudu ranked Dhoni as India's finest ever leader, having won three ICC title during his reign as captain. For the unversed, Dhoni is the only India captain to win all three ICC white-ball events - 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
Dhoni's named had popped up after Rayudu had already ranked the other five former India captains. He kept Ganguly at no. 3, three followed by Kapil, who led India to their first-ever World Cup success back in 1983, at no. 4.
When it was Rohit's turn, Rayudu paused for a bit, before eventually ranking him as second. Next up was Kohli, India's most successful Test captain. Rayudu said that while Kohli would've been in the top two if Test cricket was the criteria, he decided to put him at no. 5 since it's an all format list.
Mohammad Azharuddin's name followed next, and Rayudu swiftly assigned him the sixth spot.
With only one position left, the top spot, it has to be MS Dhoni for Rayudu. He placed his former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and former Team India skipper at number one with a big smile on his face. The two share a long association, particularly at CSK, and Rayudu has often publicly praised Dhoni.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India played 332 matches across all formats, winning 178, losing 120 and drawing 15.
Under Dhoni's leadership, India completed a historic whitewash over Australia in the 2012/13 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, featuring at the pinnacle of India's distinguished achievements.
Ambati Rayudu's final ranking: (1) MS Dhoni, (2) Rohit Sharma, (3) Sourav Ganguly, (4) Kapil Dev, (5) Virat Kohli, (6) Mohammad Azharuddin.
(With ANI Inputs)
India Cricket Team
MS Dhoni
Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma
Ambati Rayudu