ms dhoni cool player in cricket than sachin tendulkar says ravi shastri

Ravi Shastri has seen Sachin Tendulkar get “angry at times” but not Mahendra Singh Dhoni, “a once in 40 years player” who will be very difficult to replace once he bids adieu to the game, according to India’s head coach.



The 37-year-old Dhoni, who was panned by critics for 51 off 96 balls in the first ODI against Australia, showed glimpses of his golden days by anchoring India to a series win with unbeaten knocks of 55 and 87 in the next two.

“He is a legend. He will go down as one of our great cricketers. I have never seen an individual so sound. I have seen Sachin at times get angry. Not this man,” Shastri told the ‘Daily Telegraph’.

Shastri made it clear that a player of Dhoni’s calibre can’t be replaced.

“You can’t. Such players only come once in 30 or 40 years. That is what I tell Indians. Enjoy while it lasts. When he goes you will see a void that will be very hard to fill,” he said.

The coach is hopeful that Rishabh Pant would live up to the hype surrounding him but insisted that Dhoni is something else.

When former England captain Michael Vaughan asked if Pant could be Dhoni in the next 20 years, Shastri replied: “I would love to. He has the talent. His hero is MS. Every day he is on the phone to MS. I think during the Test series he must have spoken more to MS than anyone else.”

It’s not just Dhoni’s role as a batsman that defines him but the master strategist in him that takes a lot of load off skipper Kohli’s shoulders.



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“That is because he has the best angle. He sees things. He is great with the guys, they all worship him. This entire team has been built by him because he was captain for 10 years. To have that kind of respect in the dressing room and experience is massive,” said Shastri.

An introvert in real sense, Dhoni has not given any proper cricketing interview since 2011, says Shastri.

M S dhoni great performance in australia tour

India’s MS Dhoni bats during their ODI match against Australia in Melbourne. (Source: AP)
India skipper Virat Kohli praised MS Dhoni on Friday after winning the ODI series against Australia, saying that no one is more committed to Indian cricket than the former captain.


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Facing criticism for slow batting in the first ODI in Sydney, Dhoni shut his critics up by helping the visitors win the next two matches and with that, India’s maiden bilateral ODI series triumph in Australia. Dhoni played a crucial role in the decisive third ODI with his unbeaten 87-run knock in Melbourne and his unbeaten half-century at Adelaide.

“I think firstly as a team we are very happy for Dhoni. That he is amongst the runs, because it is very important to get runs under your belt to get that rhythm and get that confidence back. Especially when you have not been playing so much international cricket,” said Kohli at the post-match press conference.”

Kohli said, “Many things happen on the outside. People say a lot of things but as an individual we know that there is no one more committed to Indian cricket than Dhoni and people should let him have his space because he has contributed so much for the nation.

Calling Dhoni one of the ‘most intelligent cricketers, Kohli added, “They should let him figure out things on his own and what he needs to do. He is one of the most intelligent cricketers and he is not someone who is not aware about what needs to be done. As a team we are totally in sync with what he is doing and we are all very happy for him.”

“Dhoni batted at number four in 2016 for a while. But after that he has been pretty happy playing at five and six for the team. We felt that number five was the ideal position for him. And if you saw him bat at Adelaide as well he was pretty comfortable in that position because that allows him to do a bit of both – get some game time as well as finish games off, attacking as and when required,” Kohli added.

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Speaking on balancing the team in the absence of Hardik Pandya, Kohli said, “He was more himself from that game (Adelaide) on, and he built onto this knock today. We are pretty happy with the batting combination that we had in Adelaide. When someone like Hardik Pandya is not there you have to balance somehow. So a lot of things vary in that regard. But we as a team, and myself as captain, we feel that Dhoni at five is the most logical. It is the ideal place for him and the team as well.”

Further highlighting the experimenting of No. 4, Kohli said, “If you look at that last game, Ambati Rayudu batted at four, Dhoni at five and Dinesh Karthik at six. Because we brought in Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav, we didn’t want Karthik to change his spot because he is doing a good job,” he said after the third and final ODI of a historic tour of Australia.

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“The middle order we saw in Adelaide is pretty much the most balanced if you look at it. The number four position, again, has been a sort of an area which we want solidified,” he said. “But because of the combinations we want to play, some times you have to make those changes. Anyone who bats at four will have to take the responsibility for the World Cup, whoever it might be. That person will have to take responsibility at number four,” he added.
Our strength as a side has been unpredictability. We haven’t been predictable with our combinations in the past year, if you see the kind of teams we have played with,” Kohli said after the third ODI which India won by seven wickets here.”

Can play anywhere: Dhoni మహేంద్రసింగ్‌ ధోనీ మ్యాన్‌ ఆఫ్‌ ది సిరీస్‌ man of the series ausralia vs india

జట్టుకు అవసరమైనప్పుడు ఏ స్థానంలోనైనా ఆడేందుకు సిద్ధంగా ఉన్నానని టీమిండియా మాజీ సారథి మహేంద్రసింగ్‌ ధోనీ స్పష్టం చేశాడు. ఆసీస్‌తో మూడు వన్డేల సిరీస్‌లో మ్యాన్‌ ఆఫ్‌ ది సిరీస్‌ అందుకున్న తర్వాత మీడియాతో మాట్లాడాడు. 231 పరుగుల లక్ష్య ఛేదనలో మహీ 114 బంతుల్లో 87 పరుగులు చేశాడు. వరుసగా మూడో అర్ధశతకంతో ఆకట్టుకున్నాడు. 2014 తర్వాత అతడు ఒక సిరీస్‌లో వరుసగా మూడు అంతకన్నా ఎక్కువ అర్ధశతకాలు సాధించడం ఇదే తొలిసారి.

‘జట్టుకు అవసరమైనప్పుడు ఏ స్థానంలో ఆడేందుకైనా సిద్ధం. నేను నాలుగో స్థానంలో ఆడినా, ఆరో స్థానంలో ఆడినా జట్టుకు సమతూకం తీసుకురావడం కీలకం. 14 ఏళ్ల అనుభవం తర్వాత ఆరో స్థానంలో ఆడనని చెప్పలేను. పిచ్‌ చాలా మందకొడిగా ఉంది. షాట్లు ఆడటం కష్టమైంది. అందుకే క్రీజులో పాతుకుపోవాలని అనుకున్నాం. కేదార్‌ జాదవ్‌ అద్భుతంగా ఆడాడు. వినూత్నమైన షాట్లు ప్రయత్నించాడు. ఆసీస్‌ బౌలర్లు కఠినంగా బంతులు విసిరారు. కేదార్‌ బ్యాటు, బంతితో జట్టుకు సాయపడతాడు. కుల్‌దీప్‌ గతంలో ఆస్ట్రేలియాతో ఆడాడు. దీంతో ఊహించని విధంగా చాహల్‌ను తీసుకొని ఆశ్చర్యపరిచాం. అనుకున్నట్టే అతడు రాణించాడు. ఆసీస్‌ పర్యటన చిరస్మరణీయంగా సాగింది. టీ20 సిరీస్‌ డ్రా చేశాం. టెస్టు, వన్డే సిరీస్‌లు గెలిచాం’ అని ధోనీ పేర్కొన్నాడు.