Former India opener Gautam Gambhir revealed that the best captain he had played under was Anil Kumble but admitted the achievements of other great Indian skippers like Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The cricketer-turned-politician further heaped praises on Kumble and said had he led the Test team for a longer period of time, he would have broken many captaincy records.
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“Yes MS Dhoni in records point of view, right up there but yes, for me the best captain I’ve played under is Anil Kumble,” Gambhir said during Star Sports ‘Cricket Connected’ show as quoted by IANS.
“Sourav has done really well. One captain that I would have definitely wanted to captain India for a long time is Anil Kumble. I played six Test matches under him probably; he didn’t captain India for that long. Had he captained India for a long time, he would have broken a lot of records,” he added.
Kumble was handed the reins of Indian Test team in 2007 after Rahul Dravid stepped down. The leg spinner had led in 14 matches spreading in five series, two against Australia and one each against Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Kumble, who still remains the highest wicket-taker for India in both Tests and ODIs, called time on his glorious career in 2008 as Dhoni was named skipper in all three formats.
Meanwhile, speaking about the best IPL captain in the same show, Gambhir chose Rohit Sharma and lauded the Mumbai Indian skipper by saying he could end up winning 3-4 more titles.
“I think it’s Rohit Sharma. He has won it four times. Captaincy is all about winning trophies. He will end up being the most successful IPL captain of all time as well. He has 4 already, he may finish at 6-7 maybe under his belt,” said Gambhir.