Mahendra Singh Dhoni Doesn't Allow His Boys to Use Swear Words

Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is always known to be one of the most steady heads of international cricket. When others lose themselves in anger, Dhoni can hardly be seen losing his calm and composure on the field in particular.

When he was the captain he made sure that the members of the teams didn’t behave in an inappropriate way. He never asked his teammates to not sledge the oppositions. But he made sure they should never get personal.

A tale from the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Series:

It was back in 2008 when Dhoni was just leading India in the 15^th One-day International that he asked for a change of gloves just before the match ended.

It was not required at that stage. However, Dhoni wanted to make sure that the Indians made sure the Aussies don’t feel that their victory was an upset of any sorts. India was chasing a target of 160 and had already lost five wickets.

However, Dhoni and Rohit ensured that India reached the target with the utmost comfort in the end. Drinks break in between generally help to send a message.

However, Dhoni asked for drinks to make sure and tell the Indian players in the balcony to not celebrate their victory wildly. It would have made Australia feel that it was more of an upset. He wanted to make sure this happened on a regular basis.

Dhoni also suggested Rohit Sharma make sure that he shakes the hands with the Aussies players strongly. It was just to give a message to the Australians that India are here to win the series and won’t be buoyed down by their dominance.

Eventually, India raced off to victory to start the Commonwealth Bank series on a winning note.

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Mahi’s way of sledging the oppositions 

“This was Mahi’s way of saying it’s no big deal. My bowlers got them all out for 160 and we are chasing it down, usme kaunse badi baat hai (there’s no big deal in it). If we celebrate wildly, the Aussies will be vindicated in their belief that this was an upset. We wanted to tell them that this is not a fluke. This is going to happen over and over again. The Aussies simply couldn’t handle it. They were shaken,” one of the members of the touring team said.

It was during that tour only that the Australian players were sledging the Indians quite consistently.

However, when they gave it back, the Aussies couldn’t tolerate at all. They would say that given the years they have played international cricket and the Indian players should start respecting them.

It was one of the openers who wasn’t liking the attitude of the Indian players.

A Funny Incident:

So what Mahendra Singh Dhoni did? He asked his teammates to assemble in front of the boundary line when he came out to bat next time. It was a mock guard of honour where all the youngsters were lined up and they said:

“Respect Respect Respect”. “It was Mahi’s way of saying, “I want to thank you. Yeh le lo respect. (You want respect on demand. Here it is.)”, said a former teammate of Dhoni.

Dhoni had his own style of sledging the oppositions. He never allowed the players to get personal and use foul slangs.

“Goli maarta hai apne style mein (He shoots in his own style.) He says the problem is if I allow my boys to give maa–behen ki gaali (swear words involving someone’s mother or sister); it’s they and not the one being subjected to it who’ll feel the pinch of what they’ve done for the rest of the day,’ one of Dhoni’s close friends explains. ‘He doesn’t believe in overt displays of aggression. He believes that if you want to hurt them, do it in your style, not in their way. If they believe in swearing, you don’t need to do it,” the former teammate further added.

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