Ravichandran Ashwin simply put the characteristic in the light, which sets the iconic MS Dhoni apart as a captain from the rest. Dhoni, considered among the top captains that grace the field, hung down his boots after lifting every trophy he laid his eyes on. In 2007, Dhoni turned a young Indian side into T20 World Cup champions in the tournament’s inaugural edition. Four years later, he became the first captain to inspire India to an ODI World Cup title since the Kapild Dev-led 1983 World Cup-winning team.
In 2013, when the odds were stacked against the Indian side, Dhoni captained the Indian team to the ICC Champions Trophy with immeasurable calmness.
As the duo prepare to reunite at the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, Ashwin emphasised Dhoni’s simplicity of sticking to the basics makes him different from others.
“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,” Ashwin said while speaking about Dhoni’s captaincy on Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
Ashwin narrated an example to outline the freedom with which Dhoni allowed his bowlers to express themselves but left no room for complacency.
“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,” Ashwin continued.
“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 realised people have forgotten the basics,” Ashwin added.
In IPL 2023, when Dhoni captained Chennai Super Kings to a record fifth title, he used Tushar Deshpande to spearhead the pace attack.
In 16 matches, Tushar emerged as one of the leading wicket-takers in the cash-rich league with 21 scalps to his name. Ashwin highlighted the simple reason hidden in the shadows behind Deshpande’s success under Dhoni’s captaincy.
“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,” he said.
As a captain, Dhoni led India in 60 Test matches, out of which they won 27 matches, lost 18 and drew 15. With a win percentage of 45.00, he is one of India’s most successful skippers across all eras. He led Team India to the number one ranking in the ICC Test Rankings.
He is also the only Indian skipper to whitewash Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, doing so in the 2010-11 and 2012-13 series.
In the ODI format, which is considered to be Dhoni’s forte, the explosive wicketkeeper batter led India in 200 matches. Under his captaincy, India stood victorious in 110 matches, lost 74 and drew five, forming a 55 per cent win percentage.
In T20Is, Dhoni captained India in 74 matches and guided the Men in Blue to 41 victories with a win percentage of 58.33 percent.
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