MS Dhoni more calculative today, used to hit 6s off Muralitharan at will before: R Ashwin

Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni is arguably one of the best finishers the sport has ever seen. MS Dhoni has batted lower down the order for the majority of his career. His numbers while coming to bat in at No. 5 and 6 are staggering. MS Dhoni had an explosive start to his career as he scored a brilliant 148 against Pakistan in an ODI batting at the No.3 position.

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R Ashwin reveals how MS Dhoni used to hit long sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan 

The CSK captain then went on score another stunning hundred at that position a few months later when he scored 183 against Sri Lanka. Despite playing such sensational knocks at top of the order, MS Dhoni was shifted to the lower-middle order and was given the job of a dedicated finisher. Since then he has donned the finisher's role for India as well as Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

MS Dhoni who used to initially play in an aggressive way turned into a responsible and a calculated batsman after being appointed captain. Recently, former CSK spinner R Ashwin opened up on MS Dhoni's evolution from a carefree batsman to a calculated finisher. While speaking on ‘Cricbuzz in Conversation’, hosted by Harsha Bhogle, R Ashwin recalled the time when MS Dhoni would bat in the nets against him and Muttiah Muralitharan. The legendary Sri Lankan spinner was part of the CSK team for the three seasons.

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R Ashwin said that he would be waiting in the queue at the MA Chidambaram stadium where there was a net behind the stadium and one where they practice right next to the match turf. He added that MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina always batted at the centre. R Ashwin also revealed how queuing up to bowl to them at the centre was some sort of a yardstick as they didn’t always get to do that. He said that when he did that for the first time, he was bowling alongside Muttiah Muralitharan.

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R Ashwin further said that every time Murali bowled to MS Dhoni, he hit the ball long. Ashwin even said that MS Dhoni of today is a lot more calculated but he had seen him back then where he used to whack every single ball. He even said that every time Murali dragged the length back, Dhoni hit it farther. There were at least 5-6 balls that scaled the roof of the MA Chidambaram stadium. Ashwin reckoned that he hadn’t seen anybody hit the ball that far and that was very new in that era as hitting sixes was something they weren’t taught as youngsters.

After playing for CSK from 2009 till 2015, Ashwin had to move to now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant when CSK was banned for two years. In 2018, Ashwin was bought by Kings XI Punjab where captained them for two seasons and after moderate results, he made a move to Delhi Capitals.

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IMAGE COURTESY: IPLT20.COM