'Dhoni was left rattled to the core': Pathan names one player who played with Dhoni's ego

During an IPL 2023 match between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan recalled an incident where Gautam Gambhir's tactics got inside the head of MS Dhoni. Gambhir has had a history of trading barbs at Dhoni and battling it out on the field, especially when he was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Dhoni, on the other hand, was the captain of Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants during the same period. 

Pathan revealed that Gambhir's ploy of setting up a Test match-like field with close-in fielders and operating with his top spinners in the IPL almost always worked against Dhoni, who had become vulnerable against spin over the years. Pathan disclosed that Dhoni was rattled to the core by the field setting and Gambhir played with his ego whenever their teams met in the competition. 

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During a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016, Gambhir surrounded Dhoni with fielders and made him look extremely vulnerable with his defense or block. Pathan, who was part of the RPSG team that year, said that Gambhir brought Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Yusuf Pathan in close-in positions as soon as Dhoni came out to bat. 

"Gautam Gambhir managed to rattle MS Dhoni for years by playing with his ego. Gambhir's strategy of setting up a Test match-like field and bringing in close-in fielders worked against Dhoni, who was left rattled to the core," Pathan said during commentary in IPL 2023 as attested to the effectiveness of Gambhir's ploy and emphasized that he was the only one who managed to get under Dhoni's skin in this manner.

Gambhir was recently involved in an ugly face-off with former India captain Virat Kohli. The incident took place during a match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. After RCB defeated LSG by 18 runs, Gambhir confronted Kohli for his misbehavior with Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-Haq. Throughout the match, Kohli was seen sledging LSG players and shushing the Lucknow crowd. Kohli's demeanour irked Gambhir, who vent it out once the game got over. 

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