IPL 2018: MS Dhoni reminded me of his ‘older version’ during the IPL 2018, says Harbhajan Singh

Dhoni scored 455 runs from 15 innings in CSK's triumphant IPL 2018 campaign.

MS Dhoni | IANS

Harbhajan Singh has hailed Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni for rewinding the clock during the recently concluded Indian Premier League.

Dhoni had a stellar IPL 2018 campaign with the willow. With 455 runs from 15 innings, he finished the season as the second highest run-getter for CSK despite batting in the middle order. Moreover, Dhoni did a laudable job as a captain in Chennai’s resurgence as a team after two years of hiatus.

“He has been wonderful and it was good to see him batting up the order. He reminded me of the older version of Dhoni,” Harbhajan Singh said in an exclusive interview with Sportstar.

CSK clinched the IPL 2018 title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday (May 27). It was Chennai’s third IPL triumph under Dhoni and the first one since 2011.

During the auction in January 2018, CSK had stacked their team with experienced campaigners and Bhajji believes the veteran players stood them in good stead in difficult situations.

“[Our performance] shows that age is just a number. If you are fit and you can run after a ball or score runs, then that should matter in the end and not how old you are on paper,” the off-spinner stated.

“We make mistakes by saying that players are 30 or 35. My question is, so what? When people are 20-21, they make mistakes in the middle by not thinking wisely. Nonetheless, the people in 30s are experienced as they have gone through these stages in their career, so they know when to react and how to react in pressure situations. That’s where experience comes to play. With age, you know which shots to play and how to trap a batsman with the ball. Experience matters the most and you have seen that with Chennai Super Kings,” he elaborated.

Harbhajan featured in 13 out of the 16 games for CSK and scalped 7 wickets in total. Although it was not an outstanding season for Bhajji by any means, he is quite pleased with the way the fans of Super Kings backed the side.

“It’s been a great outing for all of us. From the fans point of view, this is the best thing that has happened. They were waiting for CSK to come back and were very excited for the side,” he said.

The 37-year-old offie concluded by saying that not playing their home games in Chennai was disappointing.

“We didn’t play much in Chennai, that’s very unfortunate. Yet, the crowd went to Pune to support. They were excited. A big team coming into the league is always good and we have got perfect results,” Harbhajan Singh signed-off.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 02 Jun, 2018

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