Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni are only the two Indian captains at the moment who have led India to World Cup victories. While India won the 1983 ODI World Cup under Kapil Dev after a miraculous win over two-time champions West Indies, MS Dhoni led India to the T20I World Cup win in 2007 and followed it up with the 2011 ODI World Cup win as well.
There is often a saying that ‘great recognises great’ – and Kapil Dev truly recognises the talent and the aura of MS Dhoni. In a recent interaction with Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia on her ‘No Filter Neha’ Saavn original podcast, Kapil Dev named Dhoni as the player whose spot no one can take while picking his ‘Kapil XI team’.
On being asked to name his team of XI players, Kapil Dev said: “There’s a test match is different, there’s a one day cricket is different. ODI…if I have to pick, I would say definitely Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, will be there, Rahul Dravid will be there, Yuvraj will be there.
“Wicket Keeper is only Dhoni. Nobody can touch his spot,” the former India captain added.
“You have Zaheer Khan, you have Sreenath. Recently Bhumrah, I can say. He’s done extremely well. Anil Kumble, all-time great spinner, and Harbhajan. These are the cricketers who come to my mind very much there,” he further said.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni announced in CSK’s last IPL game this season that he would make a return in the Indian Premier League next year as it is barely five months away. Fans will be eager to catch a glimpse of Dhoni in yellow.