Gautam Gambhir Says MS Dhoni Should Keep Playing

Gauam Gambhir, who played a lot of cricket with Dhoni, said, "Age is just a number, I think if you are in a very good form, if you are hitting the ball really well.

"MS Dhoni, if he is hitting the ball really well, if he is very good form, if he is enjoying the game and if he thinks that he can still win the game for the country at that number -- especially at six and seven."

Dhoni led the country in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is the only captain to win all ICC trophies, including the World T20 in 2007, ODI World Cup in 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.

Source: Rediff 

MS Dhoni is a unique human being: Dinesh Karthik

India wicketkeeper and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik said MS Dhoni had a unique style of batting and wicketkeeping but his bullish nature of his technique helped him carve a niche in international cricket.

Speaking to sports presenter Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan in his YouTube show, Dinesh Karthik recalled his initial impressions of MS Dhoni.

"I think he handled the pressure very well. He was a pretty unique human being, in the sense he has his own way of doing things," Karthik said.

"When I got selected in the A series, he was part of the team. We travelled together. He had his own way. He was coming from Bihar at that time, he had done well for the stage. It was Dilip Vengsarkar who spotted his talent. He was a little unique with his batting and keeping. But he was very strong about his technique and very bullish about his technique and then carved a niche for himself in the forthcoming years."

Source: India Today

MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings Could Travel Early to UAE for IPL 2020

The MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings will be the first team to travel to United Arab Emirates for the Indian Premier League 2020, according to a report in Gulf News.

While most teams are expected to reach UAE by August 20, CSK could head there in the second week of August to acclimatise to conditions and prepare for the tournament.

CSK were the runners-up last season, having lost to Mumbai Indians in a thrilling final. Interestingly, CSK had kick-started their preparations early in March this year before the tournament was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some key players have been training individually as well. Most notably, Suresh Raina has been hitting the nets frequently along with the likes of Piyush Chawla and Rishabh Pant and posting updates on social media.

Source: News18

Kiran More Recalls MS Dhoni's Journey and Says "Dhoni Is Very Smart"

Kiran More: 

"Rahul Dravid was then keeping wickets, and we were looking for a wicket-keeper-batsman who could score runs at No 6 or 7, and that is what we found in Dhoni.

We thought he was the right guy to give an opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands.

If Dhoni had not done well with the opportunities he was given, then we would be back to square one.

Dhoni came in pretty late into the team, not in the early days of his career.

He had something different about him, he had a good reading of the game.

You could see even then that he was a match-winner. I still remember he scored 60-odd for East Zone against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy final. He batted fearlessly, but at the same time he batted smartly.

I remember I went to Jamshedpur to see him bat in a game, he scored 130 something in that match against Odisha.

And when you saw him, you immediately knew that he was something special.

So we then picked him for the India 'A' tour for the limited overs matches in Narobi. He went there and dominated the whole series with his attacking batting. Then we gave him an opportunity to play for India, so that was his journey.

He worked hard to reach where he did, he understood what was needed in international cricket.

After he got that first century for India (against Pakistan in an ODI at Vishakapatnam in 2005) he never looked back.

He became an integral part of the team, he was part of the discussions in team meetings, he also gave his suggestions to coach and captain, so you could see that he had a brilliant cricketing mind.

We knew that he had a good reading of the game, which is common with all wicket-keepers. He understood the conditions very well, he knew which bowlers to use at which time.

Dhoni was very smart. He picked up a lot of things quickly when he came into the Indian team and he progressed really fast and went on to become the captain.

I remember (then coach) Greg Chappell told us back then that Dhoni will one day become the captain of India.

He got his chance in the 2007 World T20 when the top players didn't go and India won the World Cup under his superb captaincy. Ao he made an instant impact as the captain."

Source: Rediff

Sourav Ganguly wanted Dhoni to bat up the order

Mahendra Singh Dhoni went on to become one of the best finishers in the game but on his 39th birthday, former India captain Sourav Ganguly said the World Cup winning skipper would have been even more lethal if he batted higher in the order.

"He's one of the great players of world cricket, not just a finisher. Everyone talks about the way he finishes lower down the order. I always believed that he should bat up the order because he was so destructive," Ganguly said in a chat show hosted by young India opener Mayank Agarwal on BCCI's Twitter handle.

Source: TOI

7th July: Happy Birthday MS Dhoni !!!

Happy Marriage Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Dhoni!

10 years ago, on this day (July 4th), India Cricket Captain MS Dhoni and his dream girl Sakshi got married. Sakshi Dhoni has posted below picture of their small and happy family on this occasion:

We wish our idol MS Dhoni and Sakshi our best wishes on this occasion. Happy Marriage Anniversary! 

MS Dhoni an incredible person, hope he continues to play as long as he can: Michael Hussey

Former Australia and Chennai Super Kings batsman Michael Hussey backed MS Dhoni to continue playing for as long as he can, saying he wishes the World Cup winner carries on for another 10 years.

"He's been an incredible person and player for CSK and India for so long. We hope he keeps playing for another 10 years. Hopefully, he can play for as long as he can," Hussey said during an online interaction for Sony Ten Pit Stop.

"I love MS as the captain. I love how calm he is and how much he backs his players and shows so much faith in his players. Obviously he is very astute from a tactical point of view. Certain moves he makes... you wonder where he is going with it but it's amazing how often it sort of comes true and works out in his favour.

"Also batting with him in the middle in tight run-chases, it's amazing to see how calm he is and how calculated he is. Always wanting to be there in the middle till the last over of the game."

"Those 2 (Hussey and Dhoni) together, they complement each other so well. They share a very good relationship, a mutual respect there. They both are very good thinkers of the game, very shrewd and very smart. They both work very well together," Hussey said.

Source: IT