MS Dhoni has taken charge of the Chennai Super Kings again and the side immediately returned to winning way against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday (May 1). Dhoni, who had relinquished the CSK captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja ahead of IPL 2022, took back the leadership for the benefit of the side.
Former India captain MS Dhoni played his last international match back in July 2019, the ICC World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand in the semifinal. In his last couple of years in international cricket, Dhoni wasn’t getting big scores like he used to but the backing of captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri helped him remain an integral part of Team India.
Dhoni’s ex-teammate and former India southpaw Yuvraj Singh believes that not many cricketers get the backing that Dhoni got in his career.
Speaking on ‘Home of Heroes’ show on Sports 18, Yuvraj said that thanks to the backing of coach and captain, Dhoni went on to play 350 ODIs and even played the 2019 World Cup.
“Definitely when you have support from the coach and the captain it helps. Look at Mahi (MS Dhoni) towards the end of his career. He had so much support from Virat and Ravi Shastri. They took him to the World Cup, he played till the end, and went on to play 350 games. I think support is very important but in Indian cricket everybody will not get support," Yuvraj said.
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Yuvraj gave examples of Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman to and mentioned that when a player’s place is in danger all the time, it is difficult to perform at the top level.
“There have been great players like Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir who didn’t get that (support). When you are batting out there and you know that the axe is hanging on your head how will you concentrate and bat and give your best. It is not an excuse but with different coaches and after 2011 times are very different," he said.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Dhoni led CSK to a 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad to keep the defending champions in hunt to reach the IPL 2022 playoffs. CSK are currently in 9th position on the points table just above last-placed Mumbai Indians.
