Former India batsman and now commentator, Aakash Chopra recently did a comparative analysis of Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's captaincy in the ICC tournaments, especially in the knockouts. Chopra heaped praise on Dhoni saying that India won three ICC trophies under him because of the former skipper's habit of not chopping and changing the playing XI.
Under Dhoni, Indian won the 2007 World T20, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy and was beaten by the Sri Lankan team in the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup.
Under Ganguly, India played in the three ICC tournament finals and they lost two out of them and shared the trophy in one in the 2002 Champions Trophy after the match was washed out due to rain.
Under current skipper, Virat Kohli, India played in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and the recently concluded WTC final and lost both.
Talking about the trio's captaincy in the knockout and commending Dhoni for his leadership, Aakash Chopra talking on his YouTube channel said, "Dhoni's class has been that under him the team has flourished. The few things I see that make Dhoni the best captain in the world is that he doesn't make changes. He didn't make anyone feel insecure in the team.
"If you see his team from the league stage to the knockouts, the team and the protagonists have remained the same. He has always got players who make runs in the big encounters. When you reach the quarterfinals, semi-finals or a final, the team that makes the least mistakes wins, the team that panics the least and the team which consistently plays the same XI so that all players are secure in the end," he added.
Citing the examples of Gautam Gambhir in the 2007 World T20 and Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup, Chopra said that the two consistent performers for India were able to do so in the respective World Cups because of the long run he gave to each and every player in the side.
"That's what MS Dhoni did for his team. If you see the 2007 and 2011 finals, you will remember Gautam Gambhir. You will remember the entire 2011 World Cup for Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni himself in the final. In 2013, you will see consistent performances from everybody.
"In 2014, you were left behind because only Kohli's bat fired while it fell silent for the rest of the players. So Dhoni the captain will always be dependent on some players. The big-ticket players, they all came to the party in knockout matches,” he added.