Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar showered praise on MS Dhoni and his leadership abilities, saying that the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) triumph was amazing after coming back from a two-year hiatus.
In July 2015, the Justice Lodha Committee handed a two-year ban to CSK and Rajasthan Royals for their owners' involvement in the IPL 2013 fixing scandal, due to which Dhoni moved to playing for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants for two years.
But when CSK returned in 2018, Dhoni led them to the trophy and did a repeat of the triumph in 2021. "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 came back again."
That tells you leadership. 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," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Star Sports.
With his ability to bring out the best in his teammates, Dhoni has created a team that has been a formidable force to reckon with, as seen from the four IPL triumphs for Chennai.
As the upcoming edition of the IPL kickstarts from March 31, Dhoni & Co will be aiming to level up with Mumbai Indians for most titles won by a side in the history of the competition.
"I think therefore that particular year and some of the shots that he played, I remember one game where the teams needed 20 odd 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," said Gavaskar.
"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," he added.