Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and India all-rounder Shardul Thakur opened up about the learnings from his former CSK captain MS Dhoni.
Team India’s star cricketer, Shardul Thakur, lauded the leadership qualities of the former India skipper, MS Dhoni. The star all-rounder who made the comeback in the CSK for IPL 2024 had a poor edition as he went on to amass just 21 runs in the nine matches so far with five scalps to his name. The CSK star has recently lamented MS Dhoni’s leadership and how he refuses to spoon-feed bowlers, saying that he won’t be there to help them behind the wickets.
The 32-year-old cricketer revealed that playing with the former India cricketer in international matches as well as for the IPL has always been very exceptional for him. The lower middle-order batter says that the CSK legend gave them full freedom to come up with their plans for the game, and if the plans do not go right, then only he steps up to intervene in the whole situation to make them perfect to grab the wickets.
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“Playing with him has always been special because he allows us to grow. He allows us to come up with our own plan. So he will never spoon-feed us. He will say, ‘Tomorrow I might not be available behind the wickets. What will you do? Go back to your room, think about your game, and come up with your plans, if it doesn’t work then I will intervene,” Shardul Thakur said being quoted by Sportskeeda.
Shardul Thakur has also talked about the legacy and impact of MS Dhoni in India and CSK, making him a modern-day great. The right-arm pacer revealed that he is one of the legends and the only stalwart to win all three ICC trophies. Shardul Thakur also talked about how MS Dhoni was supportive during the rough patches of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who could have been dropped owing to their poor form.
Shardul Thakur on MS Dhoni 🙌❤️#MSDhoni #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/mLolTJHe0i
— Chakri Dhoni (@ChakriDhonii) August 6, 2024
“The legacy that he has left behind, three ICC Trophies, grooming so many youngsters. Even the current greats I would say Virat, and Rohit, everyone in their life had a time where they could have been dropped. But the great MS Dhoni backed them and what they did after 2012 onwards up until now,” he added further.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if CSK retains Shardul Thakur or not ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. On the other hand, MS Dhoni has yet to take the call on his IPL future.
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