‘Single-Handedly Raised the Bar for the Team’ – Sanjay Manjrekar Hails Indian Legend as Best Captain

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar praised legendary captain MS Dhoni for his leadership. He said Dhoni could turn an average team into winners. He also admired the 44-year-old for handling pressure in finals and getting the best performance from his players. Notably, Dhoni led India to victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on his YouTube channel:

“And I think he was different when it came to performing on the big stage. He played the final just like he would play an earlier league match. The pressure in big finals affects many players and some captains too. MS was different in that way,” he added.

Apart from international cricket, Dhoni also led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to five IPL trophies.

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Manjrekar on Virat Kohli’s Mentality

Manjrekar also praised former India captain Virat Kohli for his performance during the 2014 Australia tour. He called Kohli a ‘mentality monster’ and credited him for scoring four centuries in the series.

He said: “Virat Kohli, for me, is at the top. Indian cricket has had mentally strong players, like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kapil Dev, but their aggression was not very visible. Virat was different. During the 2014 tour to Australia, he scored four centuries and took on Australian players both verbally and on the field. He walked the talk. It was great to see because Indian cricket didn’t have someone leading like this at that time. It reminded me of Javed Miandad from Pakistan.”

Notably, Virat Kohli had a poor 2014 England tour, scoring only 134 runs in 10 innings. But he then scored 692 runs in eight innings at an average of 86.50 during the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.