MS Dhoni doesn’t attend a lot of bowling meetings: Ishant

MS Dhoni as a skipper has revolutionised the sport and has made all the other captains before him appear as spectators. The now 41-year-old has won all the International Cricket Council (ICC) trophies, including winning India’s last ICC tournament way back in 2013 against England in the Champions Trophy. 

But one thing that has remained a secret is his operating method as a skipper. While players in the past have hinted at one thing or the other, Ishant Sharma, in a show with Ranveer Allahbadia, talked about how Dhoni rarely attends bowling meetings and insisted that the former Indian skipper always goes to the field with an open mind. 

“Mahi bhai, I have played for his team in the IPL as well (Rising Pune Supergiants), he doesn’t attend bowling meetings. Whatever is to be done on the field, that’s my (Dhoni)’s job. So, you have to go with an open mind, change your plans accordingly and not be rigid,” Ishant told Ranveer on the show. 

Something that is, however, well known is that Dhoni’s room is always open for the youngsters, something that Hardik Pandya mentioned previously. Ishant too, insisted that while stating that there are moments when Dhoni gets angry if someone disturbs him while he is thinking about the game. 

“Dhoni’s room is always open, and everybody are always in his room, chatting with him, and there’s always an atmosphere inside. There’s no way to contact him only, he never has his phone with him. But there are moments when he thinks about the game, and gets angry when someone disturbs him during that time.”

While Dhoni is captain cool, there are moments on the cricket field when the former Indian skipper has lost his calm, and Ishant opened up on a few moments from his career where he left the 41-year-old unimpressed. 

“He’s rarely angry, it has happened with me, I have been scared once or twice because my throw wasn’t proper. In the 2013 Champions Trophy, Ravi Bopara tried to hit Ravindra Jadeja, and I let go two runs, and he was quite angry with me, and I could see it in his eyes.”

“In the second innings against Australia (2013 Mohali Test), the match got stuck, Virat Kohli got out, and we won eventually. But Dhoni was angry, he told Kohli that we were one batter short and that shot from you wasn’t needed. It is his method of improving the player. 

In the same conversation, the right-arm pacer from Delhi also shed light on India’s pace-bowling stocks, calling the trio of Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik and Mukesh Kumar as the team's future. 

“If you work properly with him, Umran Malik has the potential to do well for the country for a long period of time. (The other would be) Arshdeep Singh," Ishant said.

"Not many people know his (Mukesh Kumar) story, but I haven't seen a man as simple as him. If you ask him to bowl a particular delivery, he will bowl only that! He needs the right guidance on the field so that when the pressure situation comes, he knows what delivery to bowl,” Ishant had to say on Mukesh Kumar. 

“When Russell is playing and they've lost 8 wickets, what does he have to lose? If you even fail to execute one yorker, he will hit you for a six. No one notices these things. If he's guided properly, he can become a very good fast bowler,” Ishant said.