Rohit Sharma (left) and MS Dhoni (PTI Photo)
Harbhajan Singh, who played under different captains including Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, explains what made them special.
World Cup winning captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have contrasting styles when it comes to managing players, says former India spinner Harbhajan Singh. Under Dhoni, India won three ICC titles including T20 World Cup (2007), ODI World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013). After Dhoni stepped away from captaincy before announcing international retirement, India came close to winning an ICC title on a number of occasions but it was Rohit under whose captaincy they ended the drought by lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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Harbhajan played under several top captains including Sourav Ganguly, Dhoni and Rohit and feels knew how to get the best out of each player despite their different natures.
He says Dhoni let’s player learn from their mistakes but Rohit approaches each one individually and gives them the confidence to do their job.
“Dhoni and Rohit are completely different leaders nature-wise,” said Harbhajan Singh on the podcast Find a Way with Taruwar Kohli. “MS Dhoni will never go to a player and will ask him what do you need. He lets you learn from your mistakes.”
Harbhajan then gave an example from his playing days for IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings when Shardul Thakur was being clubbed for boundaries by Kane Williamson.
“I remember a game when we were playing for CSK. MS Dhoni was keeping and I was fielding at short fine leg,” Harbhajan recalled. “Shardul Thakur was bowling and the first ball Kane Williamson hit him down the ground for a four. Next ball, same result. I went to Dhoni and asked him that he should tell Shardul to try something different.”
“MS replied, ‘Paaji, if I tell him today, then he will never learn.’ His thought process is: ‘Let him take the beating, he’ll learn by himself.’ That was MS Dhoni’s way,” he added.
On Rohit, Harbhajan said, “He’s very different, he will talk to each player. He is someone who will put his arm around your shoulder and tell you what is expected from you. He will give you that energy that ‘yes you can do it’. He was leading Mumbai Indians for almost 13 years and then led India – the experience comes in handy.”
Habrhajan believes that Tests teach a lot to a captain as compared to limited-overs matches.
“When you captain in Tests, then you learn a lot. In limited overs matches, you end up overlooking a lot of moments. But a Test captain has to decide the pace at which a Test should progress, work on a strategy on how to win matches – that’s the mark of a strong captain. Steve Waugh was a superb Test captain. Shane Warne may not have been a captain (for Australia) but had a great cricketing brain,” he said.
Taruwar Kohli, who played for Rajasthan Royals under Warne’s captaincy, said the late Australian’s style was similar to that of Rohit.
“Shane Warne was like Rohit bhai. In the warm-up, he would approach us during the team huddle and remind everyone of their player. You learn a lot by watching good captains,” he said.
Harbhajan chimed in by crediting Ganguly for giving players freedom to be themselves and then getting the best out of each of them.
“As a player, all you want a bit of support from your captain and then you can go express yourself,” Harbhajan said. “Sourav Ganguly was probably the best in that. During his era, he gave us the freedom. We all were different – Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, me. Without changing anyone, he took the best out of everyone. Sourav Ganguly was a brilliant man manager.”
“Dhoni carried forward Ganguly’s legacy and then Rohit continued. Whoever becomes the next India captain, they should also learn and take things forward,” he added.
