When MS Dhoni Declared He Wanted To Bat At Number Four But The Team Disagreed

It has been comfortably more than a week since MS Dhoni called it quits from international cricket; however, the tributes have not stopped pouring in. MS Dhoni retired from international on India’s 74th year of independence and as one of the greatest match-winners India ever had. Former India seamer RP Singh recalled an interview when the former Indian captain wanted to bat at number four, but the team thought differently.

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For most of his career, MS Dhoni batted in the lower middle-order to shield the team from a potential collapse. While the term finisher takes its roots from the Australian great Michael Bevan, it was the Jharkhand cricketer that took it to a whole new level. The 39-year old entirely backed himself to plunder the big hits at the back end by settling initially. And most of the time, the veteran was successful in winning some close games for India.

RP Singh recollected an interview when MS Dhoni said he wanted to bat at number four; however, the team felt none other than him could absorb the pressure in the late order. The left-arm bowler lauded the World Cup-winning captain for taking the team over the finish line from batting lower in the line-up, labelling Dhoni in a league of his own. He has batted at number six in 129 innings, averaging 47.32.

“If I am not wrong, MS himself had said in an interview that he wanted to bat at number 4 but maybe the team thought there was none better than him to absorb the pressure in the late order.

“If you talk about the history of the game, you will never get a player like Dhoni who has won so many matches from batting at that position. We have spoken about Bevan and all but MS was a completely different beast,” RP Singh stated as quoted by Hindustan Times.

MS Dhoni has always been a down to earth and very composed person: RP Singh

The 34-year old added that MS Dhoni always maintained low-profile and was a calm person; however, had complaints that he never used to pick up calls. Singh hilariously mentioned they would call him now to see if he retired realistically. He concluded that on-field and off-field talks with cricketers are no different and mostly end up talking about matches.

“He has always been a down to earth and very composed person. We used to complain that he never takes our calls. Once he told Munaf (Patel) and I, that, when he retires, he would pick up the phone in just half-a-ring. Now we will check if really has retired.

“We always exploited his extra allowance which captains are entitled to! On a serious note, cricketers’ off-field interactions are not very different from ones on the field. We often end up talking about matches and players so it was fun with him,” he added.

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