Aakash Chopra believes that MS Dhoni receives the same level of admiration and reverence that Sachin Tendulkar did during his career. Dhoni had a remarkable journey in cricket, achieving success as both a player and a captain before retiring in 2020.
Aakash Chopra Compared MS Dhoni’s Fandom To Sachin Tendulkar
Despite stepping away from international cricket, Dhoni continues to play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), leading them to victory in the IPL tournaments of 2021 and 2023. This enduring love and respect for Dhoni highlight his enduring legacy in the sport.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chopra emphasized that MS Dhoni has been held in the same high regard as Sachin Tendulkar. He said:
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a cult hero. As his career progressed, the love and respect kept going to a different level. The love and respect he gets is as much as I saw Sachin Paaji getting.”
Watch the video here:
Aakash Chopra highlighted that the influential captain stepped down from Test cricket when Virat Kohli was prepared to assume the leadership position. He said:
“Generally, you are lingering on. You feel the respect is going but the guy doesn’t want to leave and keeps playing. He did not do that. In 2015, when we were in Australia, he said that he was done with Test cricket. He said that he has prepared Virat and that he can take the team forward,”
Chopra noted that Dhoni recognized the Indian Test team had moved beyond needing his presence, and he refrained from pursuing personal records that were within reach. He highlighted that Dhoni discreetly announced his retirement from international cricket via an Instagram post, despite his usual absence from social media platforms.
Furthermore, Aakash Chopra emphasized that MS Dhoni receives the same level of adoration and respect in Chennai as a local cricketer would. He said:
“The way Chennai has adopted him, you get to see that in very few places with any player. He is not from there but it never seemed like he is not from there. It seems like he is one of their own, as though he might have been born in one of Chennai’s lanes.”
He added: “In a sense, he is an outsider, he comes from Ranchi, but he got a lot of love from there. He returned that love with a lot of performances. He embraced the team and won them a lot,”
In his IPL career spanning 218 innings for the Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni has accumulated an impressive 5082 runs at an average of 38.79 and a striking rate of 135.91. His leadership has been instrumental in guiding the team to five IPL titles. As he gears up for what might be his last season as a player in the league, Dhoni aims to secure a record-breaking sixth championship for his franchise.
