Recently retired Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that MS Dhoni became one of the greatest captains in world cricket due to his unwavering focus on mastering the basics.
The 38-year-old retired after the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane, having thrived under MS Dhoni’s leadership with Chennai Super Kings and Team India. The duo, who achieved significant success together, is set to reunite at CSK in IPL 2025.
Ashwin praised Dhoni’s captaincy, emphasizing his mastery of the basics—a quality many captains lack. In an interview with Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on Sky Sports, he credited Dhoni’s calm and strategic approach for consistent success at both international and franchise levels.
“It is a very simple question to answer. In my head, I think he does most of the basic things right, and most of the other captains miss the basic elementary things, which makes the game look much more difficult for them.”
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The 38-year-old highlighted how Dhoni gave bowlers complete freedom while closely monitoring their performance. He explained:
“He would never, for example, give the bowler the ball. The first thing he would say is to take your field and bowl to the field. He hated the fact when a batter came to bat and you gave a loose delivery, he wouldn’t take me off bowling. If I gave two three boundaries in an over, that is well earned.”
“If I gave a new batter a ball to cut or drive, he would be livid. He would make me feel my place, and he would take me off bowling. That is a very basic essence of cricket. Over the years, I realized people have forgotten the basics,” the off-spinner with 537 Test scalps went on to add.
Ravichandran Ashwin attributes Tushar Deshpande’s success in IPL 2023 to MS Dhoni
Ashwin praised Dhoni’s captaincy, crediting him for Tushar Deshpande’s success in IPL 2023. Under Dhoni’s leadership, CSK secured their fifth IPL title, with Deshpande taking 21 wickets in 16 matches. Ashwin elaborated:
“There are certain facets of the game that don’t change, and MS Dhoni keeps it simple on those accounts. Last year in IPL, he got Tushar Despande, and he got the best out of him. I know what exactly MS Dhoni would have told him.”
“He would have told him to get hit on the longer side of the boundary and give me two runs less than you gave last year. That does two things to the bowler. It relieves the pressure, and it makes him think I can get in a very small set of goals.”
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