Picture Credit: BCCI
There is little doubt that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the sharpest brains in Indian cricket. His reading of the game situation, especially in limited-overs cricket, makes him the soulful owner of all the ICC trophies in that format as a captain. While the list of his admirers is endless, it is the current Team India Head coach Ravi Shastri who has heaped heavy praises on the former India captain.
In fact, Shastri, who is set to work with Dhoni as the mentor of the India squad in the T20 World World Cup, has rated Dhoni as the greatest white-ball captain ever. He even went on to say that nobody even comes close to Dhoni when it comes to tactical acumen in the limited-overs format.
MS Dhoni is The King Kong: Shastri
"Dhoni is the greatest white-ball captain ever. Just look at his record in ICC tournaments. What has he not won? IPL, Champions League, all ICC tournaments, two World Cups. There is no one close to him when it comes to white-ball cricket. He has to be the greatest. The King Kong, you can call him in that fashion," Shastri told Fan Code.
Along with his numerous accolades as the India captain, Dhoni has also been phenomenal as the leader of the Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni has led the Chennai franchise to a Playoff berth every single time they have participated in, missing out only in 2020. But while the Men in Yellow were the first team to be out of the final four race last year, this time around they are the first team to make it to the Playoffs and have already reached 20 points.
There is composure and control with Dhoni at the helm: Shastri
"When you see Dhoni captaining a side, and you see Chennai Super Kings (CSK), there’s that assurance and calmness of things in control. The other side might be whacking sixes or fours but you still get the feeling there is this composure and control," Shastri added.
While the IPL is still on, fans have already started to look forward to seeing MS Dhoni return to the Indian dressing room in the capacity of a mentor. While it was under his captaincy that Team India had won the inaugural season of the T20 World Cup in 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India would hope he can pull off a similar feat as the mentor, inspiring the Men in Blue to lift their first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions trophy.