(PTI Photo)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is famous for his calm and composed presence on the field, seldom displaying his emotions during or after a match. Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson believes that Dhoni’s intensity doesn’t need to be visible for him to be effective.
Additionally, Watson praised Virat Kohli, recognizing him as the most mentally resilient player.
“But then you’ve got on the other side of the fence is MS Dhoni, who is opposite of that intensity from Virat (Kohli). He doesn’t need to be like nine out of 10 with his intensity level; he needs to be at around six. But he needs to be in that sort of pocket where he’s still fully engaged and trusting his intuition because it’s as good as there’s ever been,” Watson said in an exclusive interview with IANS, on the sidelines of his new book ‘The Winner’s Mindset’.
“Even at the ripe of age of 42, he still knows how to be able to let his mind be free to be able to access his skills that are so deeply ingrained. So, MS Dhoni, his understanding of the information and the world around him, to be able to break that into really simple concepts is one of his superpowers.”
“That’s the reason why he’s been able to be such a successful leader because he knows how to redirect players at the right time – whether it’s in game or in the lead-up to games. But then it’s also about him doing that for himself as well.
“So that’s why for me there’s no surprise why he continues to play so well even in this sort of smaller capacity that he has from a batting perspective, like last three overs. But you can see from a keeping perspective, he’s still keeping as well as he ever has. So those two guys (Kohli and Dhoni) stand out to me the most in terms of the current players,” added Watson.
The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni, accumulated 161 runs across 14 innings for the Chennai Super Kings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, delighting fans with his impressive tally of 14 fours and 13 sixes.
