MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets to win its fifth Indian Premier League title at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. A rain delay saw the Super Kings’ target being revised to 171 in 15 overs. Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja became the hero for his side as he smashed the winning runs to help his side win the trophy for the 5th time.
Later, after the celebrations, Dhoni invited Ravindra Jadeja and star batter Ambati Rayudu to collect the trophy. Dhoni took the trophy backstage where his team was waiting for him and just like every time, he handed over the trophy to the youngest member of the team – Matheesha Pathirana, who even carried the trophy all the way to team’s hotel.
This isn’t the first time that Dhoni has won our hearts with this gesture. Every time his team won a trophy, Mahi handed it over to the youngsters’ and moved at the corner as the victory celebration went on.
In fact, during his captaincy days with the Indian cricket team, we have seen Dhoni standing in one corner and giving the opportunity to the youngsters to hold the coveted trophies after every series win. This ritual was continued by his successor Virat Kohli and now by the current Indian captain Rohit Sharma.
But what is the reason behind this rare graceful gesture?
MS Dhoni Finally Revealed Why He Gives Away The Trophy
Well, in an interview, a long time back, MS Dhoni had shared that the thought behind the graceful gesture is to provide the valuable respect and motivation which the players have earned after great performances. He also admitted that at the end of the day, the trophy will come back home, and doesn’t really matter who is holding it.
“It’s just that, if there is any youngster in the team who has performed well in the series and you hand him over the trophy, it works as an appraisal for him. You are appreciating what he has done. It gives them a lot of confidence. At the end of the day, we have won the trophy. It doesn’t matter who holds it. But if I hand it over to some youngster and I’m getting benefitted that he could perform better in future by this gesture then it’s a win-win situation for us,”
In another interview, when MS Dhoni was asked the same question, he had said that it is unfair as a captain to collect the trophy when you have won a series or a tournament as a ‘team’. He said:
“We all love the celebrations, but as captain you’ve already spent 15 minutes’ overexposure with the trophy. So I let them take centrestage with the trophy!”
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