Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Moeen Ali highlighted a huge quality of captain MS Dhoni which separates him from other captains, as the yellow army readied for the Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2023, which they will play at home in Chennai on May 23 against Gujarat Titans (GT).
CSK finished the league stage of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at second in the points table with 17 points.
Moeen has seen MS Dhoni closely as he has been part of CSK for three years now and said that Dhoni is not someone who would drop players on the back of one or two bad outings. Moeen mentioned that while other teams would be reluctant to keep giving chances to players, Dhoni tries to bring the best out of CSK players.
"I think the captain is very important and he obviously has been very important. At the end of the day, the youngsters have to bowl the ball. Those guys have probably played more than they expected to play. They start with injuries and they have taken their chances amazingly well," Moeen said in a video posted by CSK on Twitter.
Among the CSK bowlers, Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande have played crucial roles in the Super Kings advancing to their 12th playoffs in 14 seasons. Both got much needed backing from Dhoni despite initial setbacks.
"In a good team, the competition is high. There are people always fighting for places. So, what happens is you take that responsibility and you want to take your chance. And these chances don't come very often. So that mindset changes from the player that right 'I need to take my chance'. But saying that, you need the captain to really speak to the players and the bowling coaches. And that's where CSK is very special, because that's what they do and they give these guys confidence," Moeen stated.
Moeen also said Dhoni sees potential in players, gives them chances and brings the best out of them, setting him apart as captain from other skippers.
"What separates MS from everybody else as captain in many ways is that, say guys have a couple of bad games, especially in the first couple of games, and I think every other team would drop the player or say 'look you are probably not good enough right now'. And that's where MS sees things and coaches see things in players. They see the potential and give them chances. Most teams don't do that. Most teams don't stick with the players long," Moeen added.
Moeen has played 13 matches thus far in IPL 2023 where he has scored 115 runs at an average of 16.42 and a strike-rate of 132.18. He has also picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.50 with a four-wicket haul to his name.
