Simon Taufel recalls when MS Dhoni's calmness surprised him as he was being warned for slow over rates

Simon Taufel admires MS Dhoni's different way of dealing with things.

Simon Taufel | Twitter

Former umpire Simon Taufel, who is seen as one of the most successful umpires, shared an anecdote that involved ex-India captain MS Dhoni. Like his fans, Taufel was once bowled over by Dhoni's calmness on the field. 

Taufel called Dhoni one of the smartest brains in cricket he has ever come across. The 49-year-old shared an incident from India's tour to South Africa when Dhoni's composure impressed him.

“MS Dhoni is one of the smartest cricket minds that I have come across in the game of cricket. I don’t say that because he is Indian, I say that because that’s the way I see it. He is an incredible strategic thinker and got a great cricket brain. But he also has a great temperament and tremendous composure,” Taufel said in a video posted by The Cricket Edge.

Taufel tried to warn Dhoni for slow over-rate but the reply of wicket-keeper batsman showed his relaxed he was.

ALSO READ: Simon Taufel advices umpires to attend training sessions for better sighting of pink ball

“We had come out of a Test match in Kingsmead, Cape Town where one of my good friends Sreesanth – had just finished playing a game there and we actually had to fine Dhoni for slow over-rate because Sree takes 7-8 minutes to bowl an over. The umpires and MS Dhoni were sitting in the dressing room and we were talking to him about over rates. We told him if he breaks it again in the Test match in Durban, he is likely to have a holiday. He said: ‘that’s okay, I need a holiday, I would like to have a game off. But Sree is not playing this game so don’t worry,’” he added.

Dhoni wasn't worried at all and that surprised Simon as most of the captains wouldn't be this calm over a serious discussion. “He was sitting back on this black leather chair and he is more interested in the quality of the chair and thinking – ‘I would like to take this chair home. And we are trying to talk to him about over rates and missing a game and he was so relaxed and so composed. That’s MS Dhoni for you."

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 29 Jul, 2020

    Share Via