Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Former Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL winning skipper Gautam Gambhir reckons that it would not be fair to compare the batting forms of current Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and that of Eoin Morgan who is presently at the helm at Kolkata. Gambhir reasoned that this is due to the fact that MSD and Morgan are at very different stages of their respective careers.
The former India opener said that while Dhoni has long retired from international cricket, Morgan is still the captain of the ODI and T20I teams of his national teams. Yet, he believes Dhoni has performed better than Morgan.
The observations were made by Gambhir during an interaction with ESPNCricinfo prior to the much-anticipated IPL 2021 final of the two teams led by the two World Cup-winning captains.
Should not compare apples with oranges: Gambhir on Dhoni vs Morgan comparison
"Comparing their forms is very wrong in itself because MS Dhoni has retired from international cricket and the second player is the captain of his national team. You should not compare apples with oranges," Gambhir responded when asked to compare the lack of form of both the captains in contrast to their team's success in the T20 tournament.
"MS Dhoni hasn't played international cricket for so long and it's acceptable if he's not in form or is contributing less. But on the other hand, Morgan is playing international cricket. Still, if you look at their performances, MS Dhoni has performed better than Morgan even with the bat," he added.
"Moreover, MS Dhoni also keeps wickets and captains so there are three departments. Morgan has only two things - captaincy and batting, where one has been totally bad. So, it's not fair to compare MS and Morgan's form," he further said.
While Dhoni has scored 114 runs in 11 innings in IPL 2021, Morgan has only managed 129 runs in 15 innings. While MSD's most recent outing was an unbeaten 18 from 6 deliveries which helped his side won the match against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1, Morgan has only made a double-digit score once in the UAE leg of the competition. Even in Qualifier 2 against Delhi, Morgan departed for a duck.