IPL 2018: Sourav Ganguly Lavishes Praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni After CSK Claimed Third Title

Former Indian skipper and currently the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Sourav Ganguly has lavished praise on Chennai Super Kings’ leader Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Chennai won their third IPL title on Sunday (May 27) by routing Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets. Chennai rode on sensational innings of 117 off 57 deliveries by Shane Watson to lift the coveted title.

The skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself was in such a sublime form and had the best season in his career so far.

Speaking about “Captain Cool” and his performance Ganguly told that Dhoni was extremely relaxed from the outset of the tournament.

“Dhoni looked extremely relaxed in this IPL. In a scenario which is already well-known to him, the fact that the franchise backed him to the hilt helped the team” a Bengali daily quoted Ganguly.

Ganguly also praised Dhoni for his much-improved fitness level. The former skipper said the 36-year-old has worked very hard on his physical aspect.

However, as per quotes from Sourav, he felt the fact that in Chennai, Dhoni felt wanted proved to be the game changer.

The former southpaw said the feeling of “you are still wanted” is extremely important. It helps the legends to push for that extra yard.

Ganguly also referred to his play days and recalled how the Indian selectors backed Rahul Dravid in the 2011 tour of England. It was under Dravid that India won a Test series in England in 2007 by a scoreline of 1-0.

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The Wall repaid the faith showed in him and smashed four centuries in the 2011 England tour.

As per Ganguly, great players must be handled gently and with utmost love and respect. The big players more often than not rise to the occasion and the same thing happened with Dhoni. He was at his best for the majority of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Ganguly rejected the raging age debate and went on to add that it is not a big factor in the game.

Dhoni’s tenure with Rising Pune Supergiant: Sourav Ganguly

Dhoni was unceremoniously stripped of the captaincy when he was at the helm for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). Well, after failing to help his team qualify for the playoffs in IPL nine. He was stripped of the captaincy for the next year.

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