Dhoni's real test as captain will be on foreign soil: Ganguly

India might be going through a purple patch under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership, but former captain Sourav Ganguly believes that the current skipper still has a lot to prove and said his real test as captain would be on foreign soil.

''Dhoni has been the captain of India for one year now, but his real test as captain will be on foreign soil,'' Ganguly said.

Ganguly, who retired from international cricket after the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, admitted that beating India in India has always been tough and said it will be a great challenge for Dhoni to carry forward his record outside home.

India has won all three Tests that they have played under Dhoni's captaincy, while Ganguly, the most successful Indian captain, has led the team in 49 Tests winning 21 out of them.

''It is a well known fact that to beat India in India is difficult for any foreign team but to win matches outside India is a place where the real challenge lies.

''I remember how we dominated Australia in Australia in 2003.

I was the captain at that time and we were the only team to dominate Australia like that in the past one decade,'' he told in an interview on Aaj Tak.

''Although, the result was a draw but Australia was forced to save the Sydney Test on tha last day,'' he added.

The 36-year-old southpaw, who led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, had an acrimonious relationship with the former India coach Greg Chappell and it was during his tenure that Ganguly was dropped from the national side.

''I was disappointed on both the occasions. It is normal for a player to feel like that in such situations. When I was told in dressing during the Delhi Test that I might not make it to the next Test. ''I was disheartened. Dravid informed me in advance when I was dropped, but when I was dropped from one-day side without being informed in advance. I was more disappointed. ''My performance in ODIs was good enough to fetch me a place in the ODI side,'' Ganguly asserted.

He also had some strong words for Chappell, who he thought dealt with Indian cricket in a completely wrong manner. ''Coach's role in any team's success or failure can't be more than 25 per cent, the rest depends on the captain and team. ''But I can say that the way he (Chappell) went about dealing with Indian cricket was wrong. I think the result could have been very different had he taken a different path,'' Ganguly said on Chappell.

The stylish left-handed batsmen, who made his Test debut at Lord's in 1996, rates his first century against England on his debut as the best among the 16 that he hit during his illustrious career.

He also noted that his retirement was a decision taken under no influence and said he every player should leave the game own his own terms which increases the respect for him.

''Every player has to call it a day on someday. While considering, retirement age was certainly not the criteria for me. I believe one should retire on his own and not after people tell him do so.

''I liked the way Gavaskar went about his retirement. Taking the decision to retire when you are playing well increases your respect among the cricket lovers,'' he replied.

The next couple of editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are very much on the cards of Ganguly, who is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders.

''I plan to play next two editions of the IPL, the first one will be surely as captain and about the next year, I will have to think,'' Ganguly conceded.

-- (UNI) -- 22SPD17.xml

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