Dhoni a better captain than Ponting: Afridi

Men in Blue
M S Dhoni led India to a thrlling win over England in the final of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. File photo: AFP

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has rated M S Dhoni as a better captain than Ricky Ponting. Afridi named his pick during an interactive session with fans on his Twitter handle.

One of the fans asked: "Better captain Dhoni or Ponting? Lala choice?" Afridi replied by saying: "I rate Dhoni a bit higher than Ponting as he developed a new team full of youngsters."

Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the best captains ever in the history of the sport. Likewise, Ponting too oversaw some of the most successful moments in Australia's cricket history.

Dhoni remains the only captain in the world to lead his team to all three ICC titles - 2007 World T20 (now T20 World Cup), 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

As for Ponting, he led Australia to two back-to-back World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007 and helped them become a force in the longest format as well.

Ponting also holds the record for most wins as captain in ODIs. In 230 matches, he led Australia to 165 victories, with a win percentage of 76.14. As for Dhoni, he takes the third spot in the list as in 200 ODIs, he led India to 110 wins with a win percentage of 59.52.

As for Test cricket, Ponting led Australia in 77 matches and helped them to victory in 48 with a win percentage of 62.33. Dhoni led India in 60 Tests (wins 27) and recorded a win percentage of 45.

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