IPL 2023: WATCH – “He gets the best out of any player,” former CSK players narrate what makes MS Dhoni so special as captain

Dhoni has led Chennai Super Kings to four IPL titles so far.

MS Dhoni’s achievement as a cricketer is surreal, to say the least. In particular, he has etched his name in the history books as one of India’s finest leaders.

Dhoni is the only skipper in the history of cricket to have won all three ICC trophies – 2007 World T20, 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. The former wicketkeeper also led India to the pinnacle in Test cricket while he captained Chennai Super Kings to four IPL titles and two Champions League trophies.

While Dhoni has retired from international cricket in 2020, he continues to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The 41-year-old is once again gearing up to lead CSK in the IPL this year. He started his preparations at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai a couple of days ago, and several videos of his training are doing rounds on social media.

During a discussion on Jio Cinema, former CSK players like Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Robin Uthappa hailed Dhoni’s leadership skills and explained what makes him so special as a captain.

According to Raina, Dhoni is a bowler's captain and also knows how to bring the best out of his players.

"Bowlers captain hota hai ek. Hum sab sath mein khele hai. He brings a lot of positivity. Unse bada koi player nahi aaya abhi tak. World ke best finisher hai vo. Aur jo performance nikalte hein naa player ke andar se, toh voh unki ek bahut khoobsurat cheej hai (We’ve all played together. He was a bowler's captain and brings a lot of positivity. There’s no bigger player than him. He’s the world’s best finisher. And the way he gets the best out of any player, it’s the most beautiful thing about him)," Raina said.

Adding on it, Parthiv stated, "I think jo sabse bada advantage jo mujhe lagti hai uska ki mera 100% alag ho skta hai, Suresh ka 100% alag ho skta hai. Sabka 100% alag ho sakta hai. Lekin Dhoni ke paas vo ability thi ki vo aapka vo 100% nikalwa sakta tha. I think mere khayal se vo sabse best quality thi. (I think the biggest advantage that Dhoni had was that he knew everybody will have a different 100%, but he has that ability which can bring out your 100%, and that was the biggest quality.)"

Here’s the video: