Jharkhand, who were virtual no-bodies until this season, have made a dream run in the 2016-17 Ranji trophy. The team defeated Haryana to enter the semi-final stages of the Ranji Trophy.

Kishan said, “Dhoni bhai saw me at the nets and walked up to me and said that I needed to curtail my attacking instincts to begin with. He believed that to play a long innings I needed to be a little more compact and I did just that. He asked me to change my stance as well and when it comes from someone like Dhoni bhai, you know you can trust his observation.

Kishan also describes how the Indian skipper instiled a culture of fitness in the team – something uncommon in the Indian domestic circuit.

“Dhoni bhai puts a lot of emphasis on fitness. As we all know, he loves to stay at the top of his fitness level. And this time, he ensured that we also worked on our fitness at the start of the season. It was obviously something that wasn’t too common with the domestic teams, but the experience was out of the world.

Shahbaz Nadeem, the season's topper in the wicket-taker list with 50 wickets, also talked about how Dhoni had helped him.

“It always helps when you have someone like Dhoni bhai to help you. There is no questioning his tactical acumen and I still remember that going into the game against Maharashtra, the wicket wore a slightly greener look. So Dhoni bhai came up to me and said that I should initially look to restrict the batsmen and use variations only after I have tied them down. The move worked wonders and here I am leading the wicket-takers’ tally,” Nadeem revealed.