Former India opener Gautam Gambhir shared his views on whether captaincy affects a player’s game and he name-dropped former India captains MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly to put his point across.

In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Gautam Gambhir was asked whether being captain of a team affects a player’s primary skill be it batting or bowling. The former India captain said that captaincy does not have any significant impact on a player's batting.

He also included the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as well, as they captained India while maintaining top level of batting skills. 

He gave the examples of MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, both of whom scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs, while also captaining the Indian team for the better part of their careers. Ganguly captained India from 2000-2005, while Dhoni led the Men in Blue side from 2007-2017.

"I don't think being a captain affects a batter's game. There have been many captains who have given great performances while being captains. It's about the individual mindset. MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, and Anil Kumble have performed well. Similarly, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have done it too," he said.

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Gambhir himself captained India in a handful of ODIs, winning all of them, and also led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. Gambhir explained that a player is chosen on the basis of his batting and bowling skills with captaincy being only an added responsibility for a cricketer.

“When a captain steps out to bat, his primary job is to score runs. You are selected in the team as a batter or a bowler; captaincy is an additional responsibility given to you. While batting, if you're going to think that I am the captain, the ball or the bat doesn't know that you are the captain. You are a batter when you have the bat in your hand and a bowler when you have the ball. You become the captain when you get out or complete your over," he further added.