Playing under Anil Kumble gave MS Dhoni experience in Test cricket: Krishnamachari Srikkanth

Former India opener and chief selector, Krishnamachari Srikkanth has said that MS Dhoni learning the nitty-gritty of captaincy and gaining experience while playing under Anil Kumble helped the wicketkeeper-batsman to grow in confidence as a leader.

Srikkanth said that while Ganguly brought the sense of aggressiveness with him, Dhoni was completely opposite to that and learning under Kumble boosted his confidence a lot besides gaining from the journey in the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph. Dhoni was handed over the captaincy in the T20 World Cup after many experienced players pulled out from the tournament and the rest is history.

“When Dhoni was the captain in the 2007 T20 World Cup, he handled the side really well, the win boosted his confidence. He has always been calm and cool, he has motivated the players, aggressive culture was brought in by Sourav Ganguly, MS was totally opposite of that, when Kumble was the captain of the Test side, it was a good chance for Dhoni to learn,” Srikkanth said in an interview.

However, Srikkanth is of the view that it was Kumble’s guidance which gave Dhoni the confidence and experience to lead Team India. “Anil gave him much-needed experience, Dhoni gave a lot of confidence to the players,” he added.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all three ICC tournaments. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won the WT20 in 2007, the Cricket World cup in 2011 and the Champions trophy in 2013. His leadership was crucial to India becoming the No. 1 Test side as well.