Former India Spinner Picks His Favourite Captains in Different Formats

A former India spinner has named Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as the best test and ODI-T20I captains respectively. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan weighed in on his opinion during an episode of Sony Sport's Tamil Cricket Podcast – Cricket Petta.

The former leg-spinner expressed that he considers Kohli's attacking attitude to be a key factor in his success as captain, comparing it to cricketer Vivian Richards' fearless approach. "Kohli's attacking mindset is something he himself enjoys and celebrates," Sivaramakrishnan said. "He shouldn't be like a machine on the ground. You should show your emotions. Kohli has an attitude similar to Sir Vivian Richards who would intimidate bowlers with his eyes."

In contrast, Sivaramakrishnan praised Dhoni's calm demeanor as captain of India in ODI and T20I formats. "For me, the white ball best captain is MS Dhoni." The former spinner pointed out that both Kohli and Dhoni possess special qualities that set them apart from other captains.

However, it can be noted that Sivaramakrishnan did not consider himself as a cricketing star but rather a spinner with 18 wickets in his international career before the match fixing scandal. He named Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Venkataraghavan as great captains of India.

Sivramakrishnan's comments sparked discussion on social media about who makes for the better captain - Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni? Both the cricketers had an impressive record in their respective formats under different leadership stints.

The former spinner picked Sunil Gavaskar as the best captain of his playing days, while calling Kapil Dev a great instinctive leader.