The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is just one and a half months away and with that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper, MS Dhoni is also getting ready to finally get back on the field to play some competitive cricket after taking a break from more than a hiatus. Fans, critics, and experts are all waiting to see Dhoni back on the field.
Dhoni’s former CSK teammate and Sri Lanka’s legendary bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan has showered rich praises on his former captain, saying that his unique captaincy abilities made the Ranchi-born special and successful. Muralitharan said Dhoni appreciates his bowlers even if they get hit for a six on a good ball.
Muttiah Muralitharan also elaborated that Dhoni gave a free-hand to his bowler to set the field first and steps in only if their field setting fails to work. During a chat with Ravichandran Ashwin, Muralitharan said, “Definitely he was a young captain, I would say. But his theories are very nice to see. Because he will give the ball to the bowler and tell him to set the field and bowl. If it wasn’t working, then he would ask them to give a chance to the field he sets.”
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The bowling legend further elaborated, “He (Dhoni) will clap if a good ball gets hit for a six. He’ll tell the bowler that it’s a good ball, and it doesn’t matter if the batsman has hit you for a six. So with that kind of appreciations, he’ll call you alone, to tell you what’s needed instead of doing it in pubic because of those qualities, he has been so successful.”
Muralitharan reckons that being calm in tough situations is the other attribute that makes MS Dhoni “such a good leader”. The former spinner went on to recall that even as a youngster MS Dhoni would listen to the suggestions from seniors, analyze them and then make a decision.
Explaining the same, Muttiah Muralitharan said, “He has the ability to think calmly, it’s because of these plus points that he became such a good leader. Even when he was young, he’d listen to advice (from seniors). He’ll listen to people and then he’ll make the decision at the end of the day. But more than that, he wouldn’t care about how players bat in the IPL. But he wants the players who can win the match for you. That’s how he went about his business.”
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IPL 2020 is scheduled to be taking place in UAE between September 19 and November 10. Chennai Super Kings, with three titles in 10 seasons under MS Dhoni’s leadership, are the second-most successful team in the history of IPL.
