Leg-spinner Karn Sharma has lauded the inputs that MS Dhoni gives to the players and he got during his time playing with the former India captain. As per Sharma, there’s no one better than Dhoni when it comes to reading the match situation and acting accordingly.
Karn made his India debut under Dhoni in 2014 and has won the IPL with three teams- Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, and Chennai Super Kings.
“I still remember when I made my T20 debut against England, he (Dhoni) told me ‘isko first ball googly daal’ (bowl a googly first up). I was new and Joe Root was batting. He said 'Ye pakka tere ko reverse sweep maarega, to pehla ball googly daal' (he will definitely play reverse sweep, so bowl a googly),” Sharma said in a conversation with sports presenter Dr Yash Kashikar on his Instagram live show ‘Say Yash to Sports’.
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“Even when we practice in Chennai (for CSK), he gives a lot of valuable advice from behind the stumps. In fact, I have not seen a cricketer in my career who gives better feedback than MS Dhoni,” Sharma lauded the 3-time IPL winning skipper.
Karn has been fortunate to play under the two most successful captains in IPL in Dhoni and Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma, who has four titles to his name with the franchise- the most. Speaking about the difference in captaincy styles of the two, the leggie pointed out that it’s the calmness that separates Dhoni from other captains.
“Rohit and MS Dhoni are quite similar as captains. I think Rohit has learned a lot from MS since he has played for so many years under him. Both bring in calmness and give complete freedom to their bowlers for setting their own field. Only if it doesn’t work out, they will come up with another plan,” Sharma, who has won the Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup titles with Vidarbha, said.
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“In fact, there is a lot to learn from Dhoni, whether you are a part of the XI or not. Most importantly, he remains cool and calm in crunch situations and doesn’t let the pressure mount on himself as well as the team,” he added.
"I feel a team is dependent a lot on its captain because if he is under pressure, then it creates some doubt in the side. But that isn’t the case when Dhoni is around. He takes on challenges and deals with tough situations,” Sharma explained.
