MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting: Shahid Afridi passes his verdict on who is better captain

Other than being famous for his big-hitting capabilities and artful leg-spinners, former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is also widely known for having strong views. Just like his hit or miss tactics with a bat, Afridi does not stay away from voicing his viewpoints on many issues.

It was therefore, not a shocker when Afridi gave a stright answer when asked to name the better skipper between MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting.

During an interacting session on microblogging site Twitter, the former Pakistan all-rounder diced no words in naming MS Dhoni the better skipper than Ricky Ponting. Justifying the reason behind his claim. Shahid Afridi stated that former Indian skipper built a team filled with young talents.

“I rate Dhoni a bit higher than Ponting as he developed a new team full of youngsters,” wrote Afridi to a fan’s question.

MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting are two of the most successful captains the game has ever across.

The Ranchi boy is the only skipper to have all won all three ICC tournaments – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy. Under his guidance, the men in blue also attained the No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings in 2010.

Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, has led Australia to successive ODI World Cup glories in 2003 and 2007.

There is no one who has captained in more matches the MSD. The wicket-keeper batsman has led India in 332 (which includes Test, ODIs and T20Is) of which the men in blue have won 178, lost 120 and tied six and drawn 15 matches. His overall win ration of 53.61 is the second bestamong Indian skippers.

Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, has the best win percentage among all captains in world cricket. In the 324 matches that Ponting led Australia, they won 220 of those, losing just 77 while 2 were ties and 13 ended as draws.

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