MS Dhoni called time on his illustrious international career on August 15, but the stories about him are coming non-stop as many his former teammates and people who know him are sharing things about one of the greatest captains Indian team has ever seen.
Dhoni is also regarded as one of the best finishers in the limited-overs cricket on par with the likes of Australia’s Michael Bevan. His ability to stay calm under pressure, taking the game to the last over and then finishing off in style with big hits, became his trademark, making him the idol for many cricket lovers.
However, former captain Sourav Ganguly has repeatedly mentioned that Dhoni should have batted higher up the order, given that his maiden ODI hundred and his highest ODI score, both came when he was sent in at no.3 position.
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Now, former India pacer RP Singh has also revealed that Dhoni, in one interview, himself said that he wanted to bat higher up the order, preferably at the no.4 position. Indian team management tried various players at that spot in the build-up to the ICC World Cup 2019, with Dhoni and Rayudu getting many chances.
“If I am not wrong, MS himself had said in an interview that he wanted to bat at number 4 but maybe the team thought there was none better than him to absorb the pressure in the late order,” RP Singh told Cricket.com.
“If you talk about the history of the game, you will never get a player like Dhoni who has won so many matches from batting at that position. We have spoken about Bevan and all but MS was a completely different beast,” RP further added.
RP Singh and MS Dhoni shared a good friendship off the field as well, and RP shed light on the former captain’s personality off the field.
“He has always been a down to earth and very composed person. We used to complain that he never takes our calls. Once he told Munaf (Patel) and I, that, when he retires, he would pick up the phone in just half-a-ring. Now we will check if really has retired,” Singh said.
“We always exploited his extra allowance which captains are entitled to! On a serious note, cricketers’ off-field interactions are not very different from ones on the field. We often end up talking about matches and players so it was fun with him,” he said.
