Dhoni plays captain with elan

There can't be another Kapil Dev or a World Cup win as special as 1983, but Dhoni has come quite close to cricketing legend with an amazing debut as captain.

The 26-year-old from Jharkhand who just happens to be an NDTV brand ambassador, had already won over many cricket pundits with his captaincy, even before India won the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

Dhoni's celebrations were as sensible as his captaincy. He took off his shirt, not to wave it around but to hand it over to a child. And there was due respect for India's first World Cup win.

"I was two years old in 1983 but both are special wins," said M S Dhoni, captain, Indian cricket team.

The finer points of MS Dhoni's captaincy can be deliberated on for days on end. His faith in Joginder Sharma to bowl the last over against Australia and Pakistan but for former greats like Imran Khan, captaincy is more about a certain X factor.

"He has a great personality. I picked players for passion and this guy has passion," said Imran Khan, former captain, Pakistan cricket team.

Dhoni was lucky to have the Y factor in his favour. Yuvraj Singh's form was truly sensational but Ian Chappell, another legendary captain of the game, thinks winning has a lot to do with captaincy.

"A team takes the personality of the captain and India have played fearlessly," said Ian Chappell, former captain, Australian cricket team.

So Dhoni has not just passed the first test, he earned a distinction. But there will be more challenges to follow.

None tougher than taking on Australia at home and away in the next few months, especially since the world champions are known to target the captain.

Source: www.ndtv.com