Mumbai: Former South Africa captain and current Director of Cricket South Africa Graeme Smith has said it is hard to find anyone in world cricket that didn't get along with veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni.
"I seriously doubt that you probably find anyone in world cricket that didn't get on with MS. He went about his business. He was calm, he was collected," Smith said.
Former India captains Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly celebrated their birthdays earlier this week. Smith also spoke about BCCI President Ganguly.
"And again, like Sanga(kkara), was to spend a fair amount of time with Dada – in administration, we are having a number of conversations over the telephone. He's always calm, approachable, always interested in a good conversation, so a lot of respect for both men."
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara also had good words to say about Dhoni and Ganguly.
"He (Dhoni) did come home in Colombo for a meal with Yuvraj (Singh) one night. We had a great chat. He was very approachable as a person," said Sangakkara.
"I did get to know Dada quite well over the years. I really enjoyed speaking to Dada on everything, Test cricket...playing cricket, captaincy...I think Dada I got to know a lot more intimately," the former Sri Lanka captain added.
Meanwhile, Sangakkara asked fans to change their outlook towards Test cricket. “If you are going to treat Test cricket as a cash cow I don’t think it is ever going to work. It’s not going to make financial sense,” the former left-handed batsman said.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), last year, came up with World Test Championship to rejuvenate the longest format in the era of T20s. Sangakkara, who currently holds the position of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) President, believes that sustaining such tournaments could be a difficult task, but it must be done to ensure Test cricket remains alive.
