MS Dhoni does 50 percent of the job for the bowler, reveals Yuzvendra Chahal

Much of MS Dhoni’s success as a captain could be attributed to his wicket-keeping abilities. Apart from his fast reflexes and brilliant anticipation from behind the stumps, the 37-year-old also has the hidden talent of reading batsmen meticulously, and Chahal revealed that it has helped him massively whenever he came on to bowl.

“Mahi (Dhoni) reads batsmen extremely well. So, when we come to bowl, which is usually after 10 overs, he gives us tips on where to bowl and how effective what areas are. Flighted deliveries are not essential every time. 50% of the work is done by MS Dhoni himself, which we take another one or two overs to understand. In IPL, having Dhoni at the back of the stumps is tremendously helpful for youngsters,” said Chahal in the talk-show “What the duck”.

Chahal was at the show with his wrist spinning partner Kuldeep Yadav, who seconded him about Dhoni and further went on to state how brilliant a field-setter the former skipper is, especially after the 40 overs when current skipper, Virat Kohli, moves to long on or long off. He even recalled an instance to back his claim.

“In the Indore match (ODI against Australia last year), Dhoni was asking me to turn the ball from outside and I was getting hit. In the third or fourth over, the batsman hit me a reverse sweep for a boundary and Dhoni came up to me advising me to move the covers to the deep and put the man on point above. I hesitated and he coaxed me reminding me that he has played 300 ODIs and I should trust his experience. I ended up listening to him and got a wicket instantly,” Yadav said.  

The wrist-spinning duo has a joint 164 wickets between them in ODIs and T20Is and gives India the rare luxury of going into a game with two wrist spinners, something other teams don’t generally have. However, when playing individually, in IPL especially, none of them has ever stood out with a similar showing. Yadav decodes the reason by explaining the chemistry they both share.

“We have a much better understanding when we play together. We bowl in the middle overs safe in the knowledge that if I bowl five overs, he will too. It helps in planning to bowl whichever batsman is at the crease, what are the conditions and how we can bowl. We look out for each other. 

“Now, when a different bowler comes to bowl, the bonding is not that great we end up thinking about our bowling only. Our bowling together helps the team tremendously and sometimes the wickets come even in a bunch. Whenever one of us is not playing, we think out ourselves, as to how to get wickets,” said Kuldeep.