MS Dhoni’s achievement as a cricketer is surreal, to say the least. The 41-year-old has etched his name as one of the finest captains in the history of the game.
Dhoni is the only skipper in the history of cricket to have won all three ICC white-ball trophies – 2007 World T20, 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He also led India to the pinnacle in Test cricket.
While Dhoni has retired from international cricket in 2020, he continues to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He recently captained CSK to a record-equalling fifth IPL title.
Speaking on Raj Shamani's podcast, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer opened up on Dhoni’s shrewd tactics, sharing a sneak peek into how the CSK skipper plotted his dismissal in IPL 2023.
"I and one more guy was batting. There were two fielders on the off-side – a short third man and covers. Everything was fine before he just called a fielder and placed it the other side. The very next ball went the exact same way and he was out caught. He could have had some bad luck too but I was wondering 'Why did it have to be off the very next ball? It could have happened 3-4 deliveries later, right?' Suddenly it felt 'Oh man! What a mind this guy has'," Venkatesh said.
"Just this year, I was batting and I played a shot and got out at short third man. I turned around and saw 'He is standing wrong. That's not where a fielder stands. He is standing at a wrong position; he should be more to the right. Then I realised 'Oh'. I asked him after the match, 'Bhaiyya, kyu?' (Why?) He said the way the ball was leaving my bat; the fielders should be a lot fine. Then I was like 'WOW! I never even thought like that. To think so quickly then and there, and to understand the angle – cricket is all about angles – to read it is I think his biggest strength," he added.
Having made his India debut in November 2021, Venkatesh Iyer has played two ODIs and nine T20Is so far. He has shared the dressing room with modern greats like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin among others.
However, Dhoni remains the only player he is awestruck by.
"It has only happened with MS, like when I went to bat and realised that he is standing right behind me. Before the match, we are busy in our warm-ups when suddenly you hear the public scream out of nowhere. When you turn around, you see MS is walking from the dugout. He is so chill and doesn’t create a parity between youngsters and established legends like themselves," Venkatesh mentioned.
