The first match of the Indian Premier League is set to be played between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans on March 31. There are speculations on the upcoming edition of IPL to be the last one for the CSK skipper and fans are eager to see him on the field. Ahead of the tournament, former India player Sunil Gavaskar lavished praise for Dhoni under whose captaincy Chennai won the title four times.
Gavaskar recalled the highlights of Dhoni's impressive IPL career.
"I think when CSK returned and won the IPL trophy, it was absolutely amazing because the team had not been together for two years and they had moved out with different franchises and suddenly they come back again. That tells you about leadership," Gavaskar said.
In July 2015, the Justice Lodha Committee pronounced a two-year ban for CSK and Rajasthan Royals for their owners' involvement in the IPL 2013 fixing scandal. As a result, the CSK team did not play two seasons of IPL due to the ban imposed in the year 2016 and 2017. But as soon as he returned in the year 2018, under the captaincy of Dhoni, the team started doing wonders and since then, CSK has won the IPL title twice.
Gavaskar added, "That tells you how the man could get a team together again after that gap. Sometimes you know, first year, second year there is a team spirit that happens but to get all of them together after the gap is remarkable.
"I think therefore that particular year and some of the shots that he played, I remember one game where the teams needed 20 odds runs in the final over and he just smashed it around from everywhere from outside the off stump, he was hitting it over long on for sixes!
"We were used to seeing that from Dhoni but even those little touches of his where he makes a fielder, a player feel 7 feet tall, are the touches that make him stand out from the others."
