Apart from being renowned for his six-hitting abilities and crafty leg-spinners, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is also known for having strong opinions. Just like his hit or miss tactics with the bat in hand, Afridi does not shy away form voicing his opinion on any matter. It was therefore, not a surprise when the Pakistan all-rounder gave a straight and simple answer when asked to name the better captain between India’s MS Dhoni and Australia’s Ricky Ponting.

In an interactive session with his fans on microblogging site Twitter, Afridi minced no words in naming Dhoni the better captain than Ponting. Explaining the reasons behind opting for Dhoni over Ponting, Afridi said the former India captain built a team with youngsters.

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“I rate Dhoni a bit higher than Ponting as he developed a new team full of youngsters,” wrote Afridi to a fan’s question.

I rate Dhoni a bit higher than Ponting as he developed a new team full of youngsters

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) July 29, 2020

Dhoni and Ponting are two of the most successful captains the game has ever seen.

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Dhoni is the only captain to have all won all three ICC tournaments – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy. Under his leadership, India also attained the No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings in 2010.

Ponting, on the other hand, has led Australia to successive ODI World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007.

No other cricketer has captained in more international matches than Dhoni. The wicket-keeper batsman has led India in 332 (Including Tests, ODIs and T20Is) matches in which India have won 178, lost 120, tied 6 and drawn 15 matches. Dhoni’s overall win percentage of 53.61 is the second best among Indian captains after current skipper Virat Kohli, who has a win ratio of 64.64.

Ponting, on the other hand, has the best win percentage among all captains in world cricket. In the 324 matches that Ponting led Australia, they won 220 of those, losing just 77 while 2 were ties and 13 ended up as draws.