Michael Hussey, the former Australian cricketer, named Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni as the favourite captains he played under. Both Ponting and Dhoni were exceptional when they were at their peak. Dhoni took over as Team India’s skipper in 2007 and guided the team to glory in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. Dhoni didn’t look from there on and kept growing in stature.

In 2011 and 2013, he won the 50-over World Cup and the Champions Trophy respectively. In fact, he is the only captain, who has won all limited-overs tournaments, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). After retiring from Test cricket at the fag end of 2014 during the tour of Australia, Dhoni gave up ODI and T20I captaincy in 2016 after which Virat Kohli took over.

Dhoni has also won the Chennai Super Kings three IPL and a couple of Champions League T20 title. Ponting, on the other hand, won the 1999 World Cup as a player. Then in 2003 and 2007, he captained the Australian cricket team to victory. Even in 2011, he led the Aussies, but his team bowed out after the defeat at the hands of India in the quarter final.

Ricky Ponting is aggressive on the field: Michael Hussey

Hussey had a tough time, picking the better between the two. “They are two amazing captains. It is hard to split who’s better. They are very different as well. MS Dhoni is very calm, cool and collected. He doesn’t talk much but when he does talk, everyone really tunes in and listens to him,” Hussey was quoted as saying on Instagram with Chennai Super Kings.

About Ponting, Hussey said. “Ricky Ponting is a lot more animated. He is aggressive on the field, a very competitive guy. At the fielding practice, he wants to be the best and he wants to be the best batsman in the nets.”

Hussey has played alongside Dhoni in the Super Kings when the former used to be at his very best. Dhoni is still an active cricketer even at the age of 38. Even Ponting was the skipper of the Mumbai Indians (MI), before being replaced by Rohit Sharma midway through the 2013 season.