Recently, former India opener Gautam Gambhir had opined that Sourav Ganguly provided many match-winners to MS Dhoni than Dhoni did to Virat Kohli.

However, Aakash Chopra, Gambhir’s teammate in Delhi, disagrees with the left-hander’s opinion and put forth quite a few names which debuted under Dhoni and are making a huge name for themselves under the guidance of Kohli.

"He is absolutely right that Sourav Ganguly gave a lot of match-winners to India. Dada even took over the captaincy when cricket was in difficulty due to the black clouds of match-fixing hovering over it and the public's belief lost,” Chopra said.

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He then went onto name a few players that flourished under the captaincy of Ganguly like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, and Gautam Gambhir.

However, when it came to Dhoni, Chopra highlighted how difficult it was for the Jharkhand native to lead a team of seniors who were coming to the end of their careers.

"MS Dhoni's biggest challenge was the transition from an established team that had so many legends but were on their way down from their lofty heights. Dhoni's task was very difficult and a person like Dhoni was only required there, who could manage the team tactically with care and also manage the transition,” Chopra said.

Chopra then named Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah as the players who got massive backing by MS Dhoni and got a head start under Dhoni.

"Players who came under him include Virat Kohli himself, who could have been dropped after the England tour if it was some other captain but Dhoni stood with him. Rohit Sharma got to those heights under Dhoni. Jasprit Bumrah also came when MS Dhoni was about to give up ODI captaincy and he got settled before Dhoni left,” Chopra pointed out.

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Aakash Chopra listed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina as some of the match-winners who blossomed under MS Dhoni.

He also added the names of Hardik Pandya, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, and Yuzvendra Chahal to that list.

Chopra signed off by saying that comparing the captaincy tenures of Ganguly and Dhoni is wrong. And the latter had given as many match-winners to Indian cricket as Dada had done, if not more.

"The list is quite long and exhaustive. It is not like Dhoni has not prepared a team or not given match-winners. According to me, it is a wrong comparison and it is a slightly incorrect outcome as well. I personally don't agree with the opinion, I feel the team that Kohli got was assembled with great love by MS Dhoni,” Chopra said.

(Sportskeeda inputs)