MS Dhoni was always going to lead India, says Greg Chappell

Dhoni was still in his early playing days when Chappell was India's head coach.

Greg Chappell and MS Dhoni during a practice session in 2006 | Getty

When Greg Chappell was the head coach of Indian cricket team, MS Dhoni was still in his early playing days. However, after some interaction with Dhoni, Chappell had come to a conclusion that the Ranchi lad was always going to lead India.

"You could sit down with Dhoni for five minutes and he'd just give you a snapshot of the whole thing. It was very early in his career but he was a very impressive young fella – he was always going to be captain of India, you could tell just by sitting with him and talking cricket," Chappell told cricket.com.au.

Dhoni lived up to expectations of Chappell as well. His achievement as a captain is surreal, to say the least. Dhoni is the only captain in the history of cricket to have won all the three ICC trophies – 2007 World T20, 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

MS Dhoni has also led India to the pinnacle in Test cricket while he has captained Chennai Super Kings to three IPL titles and two Champions League trophies. 

When Chappell was appointed as India’s chief coach in July 2005, Ganguly was serving a six-match ban imposed on him by the ICC for slow over rate. India’s vice-captain Rahul Dravid was leading the team in the tour of Zimbabwe in September 2005.

However, later in the year, Ganguly was removed as a skipper permanently. In February 2006, when the squad for the home series against England was named, the Prince of Kolkata didn’t find a place in the team either.

It was a chaotic time in Indian cricket in which accusations flew from both sides and reached at the all-time low when the country crashed out in the group stage of the 2007 World Cup — Chappell’s last tournament in charge.

Chappell understands that selections were the major factor in that drama. In the 1980s, the likes of Steve Waugh was given 27 Tests before he scored a century. However, Chappell believes a team can’t afford to do it right now.

"That was a very different world. We would never be allowed to do that now," Greg Chappell said.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 07 Aug, 2018

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