MS Dhoni enjoys the trappings of success, deservedly so, but remains rooted in the simple work ethic of his family, says Simon Briggs, in an interview with the India captain in the Daily Telegraph.

England captain Andrew Strauss describes himself as a winner, but for all the kudos of his three Ashes triumphs, the man on the other side of Thursday’s coin toss has done it all: World Cup, World Twenty20, World No 1 in Test cricket. And he has done it with such serenity and poise that you would think he was still playing in a tape-ball street game back in his native town of Ranchi. This is one of Dhoni’s greatest talents: the ability to transmit calm and relaxation to his players when things are tight. Yet it is something of a conjurer’s trick, for he is keenly aware of the responsibility he carries. Indeed, he himself sometimes feels the need to escape from the pressures of fame climbing aboard one of his 25 beloved motorbikes ...

England's Test series against India brings threats to Andrew Strauss' authority on and off the pitch, says Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian.

He [Strauss] no longer has a complete empire on which to fall back. So now his international future will stand or fall on his Test record alone, on the success of the team and the runs he contributes personally. The young pretender is in place. Strauss believes, and he may be right, that concentration on one aspect will buy him time. Yet it may also place too high a demand on this drive to succeed. He has little margin for error now.

Nasser Hussain and Sourav Ganguly, were captains who introduced pugnacity and backbone to Test sides that were languishing in the rankings, says Rob Bagchi, writing in the same paper.

Twelve years ago the fortunes of both sides were bleak. England were ninth in the rankings, rock bottom beneath Zimbabwe and New Zealand, and India, led reluctantly by Sachin Tendulkar, were fifth with barely half the points of Australia. Two men in the commentary box for their home audiences for this seductive series, Nasser Hussain and Sourav Ganguly, were the catalysts for the progress made over the past decade and while they have been eclipsed by their successors, both sides owe a debt of gratitude to the men who transformed their character.

MS Dhoni ranks right up there with the best international captains – think Imran Khan, Mark Taylor, Arjuna Ranatunga – of the last three decades, says Ian Chappell, writing in the Hindustan Times. Like all good captains, says Chappell, Dhoni displays an aura that, no matter what is happening on the field, suggests to his team ‘all is well’.

Dhoni and Ranatunga both had moderate attacks, which makes their achievement in winning a World Cup even more meritorious … Neither Dhoni nor Ranatunga were ones to lament their lack of attacking options; they just devised plans to beat the opposition with the bowlers they had in hand. Dhoni even admitted after the semi-final he’d misread the Mohali pitch but that still didn’t stop him from finding a way to win with the attack he had…

Dhoni gradually brought his team to a peak during the tournament and they were at their best in the final. And, as good as they were, not even Imran, Taylor or Ranatunga put on such a commanding personal performance as Dhoni did in a World Cup final.

Meanwhile, writing in the Daily Telegraph Tanya Aldred says Wayne Rooney could learn a thing or two from the calm-under-immense-pressure India captain, after the footballer received a two-match ban for his expletive-laden goal celebration.

Testosterone can take you a long way, but it doesn’t defend you from looking like a thug … On the same Saturday, over on the other side of the world, another man was under more pressure than even Rooney could imagine. A small town-boy, sturdy, stubbly and with a most magnificent nose, MS Dhoni was leading India in their pursuit of the cricket World Cup against Sri Lanka … The din was transcendental, the weight on Dhoni’s shoulders oppressive. Yet there he was, ridiculously, unbelievably, calm.

That six that won the Cup, high into the exploding Mumbai sky, was icing so pink and delicious it was almost sickly. Never will he play a more rewarding shot. And yet, though he gave himself perhaps a fraction of a second too long to admire the ball sailing into the night, there were no foul-mouthed celebrations to camera. Just embraces with team-mates and worthy handshakes with opponents…

Abhishek Ghosh remembers his one-time school-mate, a certain MS Dhoni, in Tehelka.

Michael Atherton, writing in the Times, says captaincy is a far more serious business in cricket than it is in England's most popular sport. The captain is central to everything that goes on in cricket unlike the "half a million quid" reference that has come to characterize the role in football.

When Andrew Strauss pulled out of the tour to Bangladesh that starts this month, the reactions of dismay or understanding explain neatly why the John Terry affair has only a passing relevance to England’s chances in this summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa.