Former India captain and current Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has immense popularity all around the world – even across the border. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had become a fan of MS Dhoni’s hairstyle on the former India wicketkeeper’s first cricket tour to the neighbouring nation.
Now, Pakistan pace sensation Shahnawaz Dahani has also revealed that it was a dream come true for the youngster to meet the Indian legend Dhoni on the sidelines of the T20 World Cup 2021. Dhoni was official Team Mentor of the Indian cricket team at the T20 World Cup last year.
Dahani is just 23 years of age and is the joint highest wicket-taker for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 finalist Multan Sultans with 16 wickets in 10 games. The young pacer was the star of Sultans’ win in Qualifier 1, picking up 3/19.
The fast bowler has been part of the international setup as well and he has played two T20 internationals for Pakistan in 2021. Dahani revealed in an interview that apart from Dhoni, he is also a fan of England and Mumbai Indians pacer Jofra Archer and former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond.
“I used to follow New Zealand’s Shane Bond and wanted to become a pacer with fast speed just like him but after his retirement, I started to follow England’s Jofra Archer and my wish is to meet him soon,” Dahani told in an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan.
Impossible to catch Dhani @ShahnawazDahani when he's on the roll. Wonderful spell of bowling and exceptional energy on the field. Congrats @MultanSultans & @iMRizwanPak for reaching into the finals @thePSLt20 pic.twitter.com/SPRIGO1oHY
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) February 24, 2022
“It will take a lot of time for me to explain the level of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Meeting him was a dream come true and I can’t forget that moment. His words were quite beneficial as he told me about life, how to live life, respecting the elders. He told that there will be bad and good days in cricket but you have to embrace it and stay dedicated to the game you love the most,” he added.
Dahani considers it an honour to be part of Multan Sultans’ family as they enjoy a brilliant run to the final of the PSL 2022. “Our environment in the team is just like a family. Our captain is cool and kind. We have all the freedom from him to execute our plans and a player performs when he is provided freedom and the inside fear vanishes away,” Dahani said.
