IPL 2018: Shane Watson Believes Intuition of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is Rare in Cricket

Published - 21 May 2018, 08:11 PM | Updated - 22 Aug 2024, 11:51 PM

MS Dhoni. Credits: BCCI.

Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Shane Watson lavished praise on its skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The former Indian skipper is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever skippers the world has seen. He also remains the only captain in the world to lead his country to all three major ICC titles.

Under Dhoni, India claimed the ICC World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20 respectively.

Watson, who is part of the CSK squad this season stated that he rarely sees the intuition which Dhoni has in too many other players.

“I’m very fortunate to have an opportunity at CSK like I have, to be able to open the batting throughout the tournament, to be able to bowl certain overs whenever MS (Dhoni) needs me,” Watson was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Watson maintains it has been enriching the experience for him to play under the leadership of Jharkhand-based veteran Dhoni.

“To be there for MS but also for my selfish point of view to be able to see how his mind works and how incredibly he reads the game, to be able to ask those questions has been great as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, Watson has performed quite admirably for Chennai and has notched up 438 runs in 13 matches at a staggering strike rate of 147.47. He has also been pretty handy with the ball in hand and has bagged 6 wickets in 28 overs so far.

Also Read: IPL 2018: Qualifier 1st, SRH vs CSK – Chennai Super Kings Predicted XI

Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni. Photo by: Ron Gaunt /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

“There’s no doubt that experience in T20 tournaments and cricket, in general, can really come through especially in pressure situations,” Watson said.

Watson has been part of the IPL since it’s inception:

“Just his (Dhoni’s) feel and intuition for the game, I’ve experienced that with a few incredible players I’ve played with, MS is certainly right up there. The feel that he has for the game, what a batsman is going to do, what a bowler should do, as you can see when he bats as well, nine times out of 10 he chases the runs down as well,” he stated.

Watson
Shane Watson. Photo by: Vipin Pawar /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

Watson has been in the IPL set up from the very first season. He was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad who won the championship in the inaugural year.

The former cricketer will now be aiming to bag his second title. However this time it will be for Chennai. If CSK goes on to win the tournament it will be their third title.

CSK led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently finished at the top two of the points table. The Chennai-based outfit will face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier first on May 22 at Wankhede.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Reveals the Name of His Off-field Leader

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