MS Dhoni Is A Yogi In Cricket, Master At Detaching Himself From Results: Javagal Srinath

As MS Dhoni announced his departure from international cricket last month, the tributes have grown manifold from all over the world. MS Dhoni retired as one of India’s most successful captains and their greatest match-winners to have ever existed. Former Indian seamer Javagal Srinath has elaborated MS Dhoni’s ability to maintain his composure amid pressure situations.

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MS Dhoni’s captaincy tenure often witnessed some very unconventional and brave decision-making instances; however, it often yielded fruitful results. By virtue of those, the 39-year old won all three ICC trophies for the men in blue, guided India to the top of the Test rankings, and lifted the IPL trophy thrice for the Chennai Super Kings. As a batsman, the keeper-batsman is one of the best finishers in ODI cricket.

Javagal Srinath called MS Dhoni as a yogi in cricket, owing to his understanding of the game and detachment from the results. Srinath also underlined his trait of conducting himself during emphatic victories, handing over the trophies to his teammates and walking away. He went on to highlight Dhoni’s calm body language under pressure and separating his senses at the right time to thrive out of it.

“MS Dhoni is a yogi in cricket. The way he has understood the game, his detachment to results. The way he speaks and conducts himself and on every victory, he holds the cup, the most prized cups, he hands it to someone else and walks away.

“When he looks into all these things, when things are not going well on the pitch and the team is struggling, his composure and body language as if nothing has happened, he can only be a yogi to be such a wonderful cricketer. The more you disconnected your senses from the game at the right time, the better it is for you. He’s a master at that, lot of respect for the man,” the 51-year old told Ravichandran Ashwin during a chat session.

Javagal Srinath opens up on his first meeting with MS Dhoni:

The Mysore Express further said that when he saw first saw MS Dhoni during the 2003 A tour of Kenya, in all three league games, he single-handedly scripted victories. The keeper-batsman reportedly manhandled Kenya and Pakistan bowlers as if playing in school cricket.

“My first meeting with Dhoni was in 2003 post my career in Kenya. There was a triangular series between Kenya, India and Pakistan; in all the three league games all the way to the finals Dhoni won it single-handedly. At the end of it, the way he disdainfully played the spinners and fast bowlers as if he was playing school cricket,” Srinath asserted.

Srinath proceeded to sprint to the dressing room to tell Dhoni, he should play for India shortly and wished him luck. The former fast bowler feels thrilled about what the Jharkhand cricketer accomplished and where he ended.

“I was so thrilled that I ran up to the dressing room and called him out and said, look I’m a big fan of yours, very shortly you should play for India, all the best. He lived up to it and see where he is now, as I said he is an absolute yogi for this game,” he added.

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