Hamilton, March 11: Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday praised Mahendra Singh Dhoni who led India to their fifth consecutive victory in the ICC World Cup which is being held in Australia and New Zealand and the ninth straight victory overall.

In an interview given to Anandabazar Patrika, Ganguly said Dhoni's leadership has been exceptional in this World Cup. He himself is also playing well, said the former captain.

Dhoni bettered Ganguly's record of leading India to eight consecutive wins in a World Cup after his team crushed Ireland by 8 wickets here. Dhoni also eclipsed the record of Kapil Dev as India's most successful captain in the World Cup. While Kapil Dev had led India to win 11 matches in 1983 and 1987, Dhoni has now 12 victories under his belt.

Ganguly said Dhoni knows the one-day and T-20 format extremely well and is a confident performer in these two versions of cricket. "This confidence in his captaincy makes all the difference," the ABP report quoted Ganguly as saying.

Ganguly said it is a mystery that Dhoni raises the bar whenever he takes the field in a ICC tournament. He is seen doing ordinary captaincy at other times but when it comes to top tournaments of the ICC, he is a different captain, Ganguly said.

Dhoni has led India to win T20 World Cup in 2007, ICC World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.

Ganguly said Dhoni might be a cool-headed captain but that couldn't be the only reason for his success. According to him, Dhoni also gets angry at times but knows to manage the anger very well.

When asked who is a better captain between Ganguly and Dhoni, the former said it is difficult for him to give an answer to this. He said while Ganguly failed to win the World Cup, Dhoni has achieved that feat, the report said.

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