Not Virat Kohli! Matthew Hayden picks MS Dhoni as ideal candidate to lead star-studded Australian team

Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden lavished rich praise on former India captain MS Dhoni. He said that the keeper-batter can easily fit in the Australian dressing room and captain the team because he puts the team ahead of anything else.

MS Dhoni arguably is rated as one of the best captains in the history of the game. This is because the keeper-batter has achieved incredible things in the game for the Indian team and made it one of the most dominant teams in the world of cricket.

MS Dhoni is one of the biggest names in Indian Cricket and is respected very highly. The reason behind that is what he has achieved is something other captains are struggling to do as they are failing to win big tournaments since the time, the keeper-batter left.

MS Dhoni guided India to all the ICC titles associated with white-ball. He led India to the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup and then followed it up with a 2013 Champions Trophy. However, since then India are yet to win any major title as they have been struggling to get going in big games.

However, his success as a captain isn't only limited to international cricket. MS Dhoni guided Chennai Super Kings to the five titles in the IPL and made them the joint-most successful franchise in the history of the league along with Mumbai Indians, who also have 5 titles.

Matthew Hayden, who played under MS Dhoni in the IPL, explained why the keeper-batter is the best captain while citing that he can captain Australia as he never promotes himself. Speaking during a conversation with Sports Vikatan, he stated:

"Dhoni is exactly what I was saying before. He can easily sit in an Australian dressing room and easily captain it because he believes that he is not bigger than anyone else. He'll collect bags, he'll throw cricket balls. He's just a very humble individual. And he works hard at the team and not on promoting MS Dhoni.

“You'll never hear him telling people how great he is or what he's achieved. That is MS Dhoni's X-factor. You look at Australia and go '25 million people. How did they win the World Cup against us?' MS Dhoni... he just finds a way to galvanise people together and does it in a way that is nothing about ego, not about self-promotion."

Thala will remain the iconic leader of this franchise forever - Matthew Hayden on MS Dhoni

Matthew Hayden further while talking about the greatness of MS Dhoni highlighted how the keeper-batter won the hearts of people in Chennai and how he will remain their leader forever. He also added the former CSK skipper doesn’t even praise him. He added:

"Coming from a small village and finding a way to the hearts of India and the hearts of Chennai in particular. Thala will remain the iconic leader of this franchise forever. But to hear him saying how great he is... you don't even hear from MS Dhoni. And that's his charm. Team before anyone and everyone loves that.”

Ahead of the IPL 2024, MS Dhoni left the captaincy of the Chennai Super Kings. The keeper passed on the baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad and it now remains to be seen if he will play another season in the league or not.