"MS Dhoni is special" - Moeen Ali hails India great's leadership quality

By CA Junior Staff

Updated - 08 Mar 2024, 02:24 PM

Moeen Ali and MS Dhoni
Moeen Ali and MS Dhoni (Image Credits: Twitter)

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England’s premier all-rounder Moeen Ali stated that MS Dhoni is a special captain who keeps his players guessing about his exceptional strategic thinking. The Birmingham-born cricketer spoke in-depth about what it’s like to play under Dhoni while speaking in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. Ali was in Bangladesh for the country’s franchise T20 League (BPL) at the time of the interview.

Moeen Ali was asked to shed light on a number of topics like his return to Test cricket last year during the Ashes as well as England’s performance in the 5-match Test series in India. One of the topics of discussion was how he felt when playing under the captaincy of 2011 World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni.

Moeen Ali calls MS Dhoni’s captaincy “exciting”

The 36-year-old started off his response by calling MSD a special player as well as a special captain. Moeen stated that he has not seen many personalities like Dhoni whose strategic thinking always keeps players guessing about their respective roles. The all-rounder also claimed that whenever he plays under Dhoni’s captaincy in CSK, they have a proper chance of winning regardless of the strength of the team.

Moeen Ali was bought by the CSK franchise for 7 crores during the auction for IPL 2021. He played a major role behind CSK’s title win that year with 357 runs and 6 wickets from 15 matches. He was retained by the Stephen Fleming-led management for 8 crores ahead of the 2022 mega auction. Last year, Ali scored 124 runs and racked up 9 wickets from the same amount of matches as the 2021 season as Chennai went level with Mumbai Indians in terms of most IPL trophies.

“Everyone knows that Dhoni is a special player and a special captain. He is a very good guy. I have played three seasons but I don’t know what he is going to come up with. His strategic persona is really good. It is exciting as a player – what role he has for you. When you are playing for CSK with Dhoni as the captain, whether the team is weak or strong on paper, you always have a chance of winning,” Moeen Ali said via ESPNcricinfo. 
In that interview, he was also asked about England’s chances of defending the ICC T20 World Cup this year, a title they won during the previous edition in 2022. Ali opined that the Jos Buttler-led side have a good chance of claiming their 3rd title, later this June since they have a brilliant team heading into the event co-hosted by the USA and West Indies.

Ali’s aim is to only win trophies

In continuation to his remarks on MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali stated that he wants to win as many trophies as he can in the remaining years of his career. The left-hand batter and right-arm off-spinner claimed that at the end of his career, he will be judged by the amount of trophies he has won and not the averages or strike rates.

“From a personal point of view, I want to win as many trophies as I can. I want to look back in my career and think about what trophies I have won. It is not about my averages. It is about winning trophies and being part of a team that leaves a bit of a legacy. With Comilla, for example, we won the last two BPL trophies,” Ali concluded.

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CSK England National Cricket Team India National Cricket Team Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 IPL IPL 2024 MS Dhoni

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