MS Dhoni is arguably known as one of the best captains in cricket. His glories include Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, Asian Cup, and several other bilateral and Triangular series triumphs.
Even in the worst and the most enduring situations where a team stands on the fringes of insanity with the burden of an entire nation’s expectations and dreams, Dhoni is the only man to keep his calm and usher his team-mates to improbable victories.
Not only has been a commander of cricket on the field, but his interpersonal skills and his benign attitude as a human being have made several other illustrious cricketers feel at home while renowned names in the circuit have set aside their ego and played under the leadership of Dhoni.
We will look at seven players who have played under the captaincy of Mahi and were also captains of other IPL sides.
Kevin Pietersen
English cricket virtuoso, Kevin Pietersen was the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 and also went on to lead the Delhi Daredevils later in his career.
Pietersen’s final IPL season was played for the Rising Pune Supergiant, where MS Dhoni captained the side and the English batsman played under him. He copped an injury midway in the league and never returned to the league.
Dwayne Bravo
The singer of the ‘Champion’ song, DJ Bravo has been a destructor-in-chief for Chennai Super Kings throughout the last decade. He has also won the Purple cap award and has been a phenomenal bowling force alongside his pinch-hitting towards the end.
Before donning on the Chennai jersey, Bravo was a part of Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He led the Men-in-Blue for one game but to his woes, Mumbai lost the battle.
Brendon Mc Cullum
The New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman, Brendon McCullum played for countless franchises in IPL. His first IPL team was Kolkata Knightriders where he was handed the captaincy in 2009.
However, his captaincy record wasn’t impressive as Kolkata was all over the place in the second season of the tournament. He then switched to Chennai Super Kings after waffling around hither and yon and he conjured magic of the highest order for the Yellow army under the leadership of Dhoni.
Harbhajan Singh
It is a rarely known fact that Harbhajan Singh has also captained the Mumbai Indians and it was in their opening game when Sachin Tendulkar was injured. Whenever Sach was not on the cards, Bhajji often led the Men in Blue.
Mumbai released him before the 2018 season and he was snaffled up by Chennai Super Kings in the auction. He then went on to play under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
Shane Watson
Recently retired from all formats of the game, Shane Watson played an emphatic role in the success of Chennai Super Kings. However, before he switched his allegiance to the Yellow Army, he has captained the likes of RCB and RR in IPL.
Despite bowing out of cricket on a low note as he couldn’t master the similar heroics for Chennai in the ongoing edition of the tournament, he will always be remembered as a legend of the sport.
George Bailey
Bailey started his IPL campaign with Chennai Super King and then shifted his pledge to Kings XI Punjab for whom he relished the maximum success. He led KXIP to 2014 final where KKR drubbed them in a high-octane thriller.
In 2016, Bailey joined the ranks of Rising Pune Super Giants and played out his last few games of IPL career under the leadership of Dhoni.
Steve Smith
One of the best batsmen in international cricket at the moment, also the skipper of Rajasthan Royals, Smith had played under the captaincy of MS Dhoni in the 2016 season at Rising Pune Super Giants. Unfortunately, he was also ruled out because of an injury.
Before playing for RPS, he captained the likes of Pune Warriors and Rajasthan Royals. Also, he was the captain of the Royals for the current edition of the tournament.
