Ravichandran Ashwin only highlighted the quality that distinguishes the legendary MS Dhoni from other captains.
One of the best captains to ever walk the pitch, Dhoni hung down his boots after hoisting every trophy he saw.
In the first-ever T20 World Cup, Dhoni transformed a youthful Indian team into the winners in 2007. Four years later, he became the first skipper since Kapild Dev’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad to lead India to an ODI World Cup victory.
Dhoni led the Indian team to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 with unfathomable composure, despite the odds being piled against them.
Ashwin underlined that Dhoni’s simplicity in adhering to the fundamentals sets him apart from other players as the two get ready to reconnect at the Chennai Super Kings in the 2025 Indian Premier League.
“It is a very simple question to answer. In my head, I think he does most of the basic things right, and most of the other captains miss the basic elementary things, which makes the game look much more difficult for them,” Ashwin said while speaking about Dhoni’s captaincy on Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
To illustrate how Dhoni gave his bowlers the freedom to express themselves while preventing complacency, Ashwin gave an example.
“He would never, for example, give the bowler the ball. The first thing he would say is to take your field and bowl to the field. He hated the fact when a batter came to bat and you gave a loose delivery, he wouldn’t take me off bowling. If I gave two three boundaries in an over, that is well earned,” Ashwin continued.
“If I gave a new batter a ball to cut or drive, he would be livid. He would make me feel my place, and he would take me off bowling. That is a very basic essence of cricket. Over the years, I realised people have forgotten the basics,” Ashwin added.
Tushar Deshpande led the pace attack for Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings during the 2023 Indian Premier League, which he captained to a record-tying fifth championship.
With 21 wickets in 16 games, Tushar became one of the league’s top wicket-takers in terms of revenue. Ashwin brought attention to the straightforward explanation that Dhoni’s captaincy of Deshpande was the secret to his success.
“There are certain facets of the game that don’t change, and MS Dhoni keeps it simple on those accounts. Last year in IPL, he got Tushar Despande, and he got the best out of him. I know what exactly MS Dhoni would have told him. He would have told him to get hit on the longer side of the boundary and give me two runs less than you gave last year. That does two things to the bowler. It relieves the pressure, and it makes him think I can get in a very small set of goals,” he said.
India played 60 Test matches under Dhoni’s leadership, winning 27, losing 18, and drawing 15. Throughout history, he has been one of India’s most successful captains, with a 45.00 win rate. In the ICC Test Rankings, he guided Team India to the top spot.
In the 2010–11 and 2012–13 series, he became the only Indian captain to completely destroy Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India was led by the explosive wicketkeeper batsman in 200 matches in the ODI format, which is thought to be Dhoni’s speciality. India won 110 games, lost 74, and drew five when he was captain, giving them a 55% win percentage.
In T20Is, Dhoni captained India in 74 matches and guided the Men in Blue to 41 victories with a win percentage of 58.33 per cent.