Indian cricket has seen several number of captain who represented the team at the highest level. Among all the legendary captains, MS Dhoni is the most celebrated captain. Captain Cool Dhoni give several trophies to India. The 2011 World Cup was the biggest one. The entire nation lived in a dream on that day. Recently, Matthew Hayden talked about MS Dhoni’s aura and feels he can easily lead the Australian side.
Hayden on Dhoni:
Aussie player Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni’s relationship is a bit different. While playing for their country, they faced each other several times. But when the IPL happened in India, they shared the dressing room of the Chennai Super Kings for a few years. MS Dhoni has given five trophies to that franchise. He is also one of the most successful skippers on the Indian team.
Under his captaincy, India won three major ICC trophies including 2013 Champions Trophy, the 2007 T20 World Cup, and lastly the 2011 World Cup. Matthew Hayden perfectly explains why Dhoni stands out as one of the best captains in cricket history, and his legacy will endure.
Hayden said, “Dhoni is exactly what I was saying before. He can easily sit in an Australian dressing room and easily captain it because he believes that he is not bigger than anyone else. He’ll collect bags, he’ll throw cricket balls. He’s just a very humble individual. And he works hard at the team and not on promoting MS Dhoni.”
Later he added, “You’ll never hear him telling people how great he is or what he’s achieved. That is MS Dhoni’s X-factor. You look at Australia and go ’25 million people. How did they win the World Cup against us?’ MS Dhoni… he just finds a way to galvanise people together and does it in a way that is nothing about ego, not about self-promotion.”
The Legacy of the Legend:
Following his retirement from international cricket in August 2020, Dhoni’s career took an unexpected turn. Despite only participating in one tournament per year, he secured two additional IPL titles for CSK in 2021 and 2023, bringing their total to five. With CSK’s failure to qualify for the IPL 2024 Playoffs, uncertainty looms over Dhoni’s future.
On this matter, Hayden said, “Coming from a small village and finding a way to the hearts of India and hearts of Chennai in particular. Thala will remain the iconic leader of this franchise forever. But to hear him saying how great he is… you don’t even hear from MS Dhoni. And that’s his charm. Team before anyone and everyone loves that.”
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