Harbhajan Singh On MS Dhoni Leadership Style: Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh revealed how legendary Indian captain and wicketkeeper MS Dhoni used to lead the team. The iconic spinner revealed an incident when MS refused to share some advice with a bowler struggling on the pitch.
Dhoni is considered not only one of the best wicketkeeper-batters in cricket history but is also one of the best captains international cricket has ever seen. Not only did he lead India to a victory in the first-ever T20 World Cup (World T20) in 2007 as a 25-year-old, but he also captained the Men in Blue to an ODI World Cup win in 2011.
Under his captaincy, India became the No. 1 ranked team in test cricket for the first time. And to complete the quartet, he led the team to a victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Check Out: Harbhajan Singh On MS Dhoni Leadership Style
But his captaincy exploits do not just end with international cricket. In the IPL as the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, he has won the most matches for a skipper. He is also the joint-most successful captain in the league with five titles under his belt.
Several legends of the game have played under Thala for CSK. The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Mike Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, and countless others. One of those legends is Harbhajan Singh, who joined the Super Kings in 2018 and remained with the team till 2020 before retiring. He won one title with the team in 2018.
In a recent appearance on the ‘Find a Way with Taruwar Kohli’ podcast, Harbhajan revealed an incident that sheds some light on how MS Dhoni used to captain his players. In a match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, all-rounder Shardul Thakue was being dispatched for boundaries by Kane Williamson.
Harbhajan Singh On MS Dhoni Leadership Style
Bhajji then asked Dhoni why the captain was not giving any advice to his young bowler.
“I remember a game we were playing for CSK. I was fielding at the short fine leg, and MS Dhoni was keeping. Shardul Thakur was bowling, and the first ball, Kane Williamson, hit him down the ground for a boundary. The next ball was the same length, and Williamson played the same shot. I went to MS and asked him to tell Shardul to try and bowl a different length,” he said.
The legendary wicketkeeper then explained to Harbhajan that if he told Shardul what he was doing wrong, then the all-rounder would never learn, continuing,
“MS said to me, ‘Paaji agar aaj bataunga na, yeh kabhi nahi seekhega (If I will tell him now, then he will never learn). Let him learn by himself.’ His thought process was that when Shardul gets hit for boundaries, he will learn it quickly. That was MS Dhoni’s way.”
Shardul Thakur has earned a reputation for being inconsistent with his line and lengths. But it cannot be argued that some of his best performances on the biggest stage have come for CSK under MS Dhoni. This story sheds some light on how Dhoni interacts and treats his young talent. And with a reputation of grooming several stars of tomorrow, this approach does tend to work.
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