Muttiah Muralitharan reveals what MS Dhoni tells bowlers when a good ball gets hit for six
Legendary Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan hailed captaincy skills of MS Dhoni. Muralitharan played under Dhoni's leadership in Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings. The veteran shared his experience of playing under Dhoni and elaborate on how the former India skipper gives confidence to his bowlers.
Murali talked about Dhoni's leadership in the 2007 World T20 for the first time, when India lifted the trophy after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the summit clash.
“Definitely he was a young captain, I would say. It was in the 2007 World Cup that he captained and won. But his theories are very nice to see. Because he will give the ball to the bowler and tell him to set the field and bowl. If it wasn’t working, then he would ask them to give a chance to the field he sets,” Murali told India off-spinner R Ashwin on his Youtube chat show DRS with Ash.
Murali joined CSK in 2008 and stayed in the franchise for three years and picked 40 wickets. The Sri Lanka great revealed that Dhoni claps for the bowlers if a good ball went for a six.
“He (Dhoni) will clap if a good ball gets hit for a six. He’ll tell the bowler that it’s a good ball, and it doesn’t matter if the batsman has hit you for a six. Batsmen too have the talent to hit,” said Murali.
“So with that kind of appreciations, he’ll call you alone, to tell you what’s needed instead of doing it in pubic because of those qualities, he has been so successful,” added Murali.
Murali heaped praise on Dhoni's calm attitude and claimed that when the CSK captain was young he'd listen to advise from the senior and then took the decision.
“He has the ability to think calmly, it’s because of these plus points that he became such a good leader. Even when he was young, he’d listen to advice (from seniors). He’ll listen to people and then he’ll make the decision at the end of the day. That’s how he used to captain.
“But more than that, he wouldn’t care about how players bat in the IPL. But he wants the players who can win the match for you. That’s how he went about his business,” Murali added.
