We are all aware of how Mahendra Singh Dhoni has ushered Team India to several glories across the global contests. May it be the 2007 T-20 World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup or the 2014 ICC Champions Trophy, his heroics as a leader knew no end until recently as he gave up on captaincy and Virat took over the mantle.
Despite him being a serious leader across the field, spearheading his contingencies to unprecedented success, he is also one of the coolest skippers in the history of Indian cricket, who likes to maintain a sharp balance between being steadfast and his levity towards his team-mates.
We will look at five such instances where Dhoni trolled his own team-members with either his beyond-the-mic jokes or witty acts on the field.
1. Dhoni told Ashwin to bowl “Tarak Mehta”:
Ashwin has spent several years under the leadership of MSD, in both Indian and Chennai Super Kings colors. Once bowling for CSK, Ashwin was instructed to bowl the Tarak Mehta to the batsman. This was Dhoni’s cue for Ashwin to bowl the carrom ball that will drift in the wrong side of the batsman.
Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chasma is quite a renowned comedy show across Indian TV and Dhoni took this reference for Ashwin to bowl the wrong one as ‘ooltah’ in hindi means the opposite.
2. Dhoni called Sreesanth in unique way to concentrate on his fielding:
It was India versus New Zealand and the Kiwis were already cruising towards a massive score with Kane Williamson dictating proceedings.This is when one of the craziest incidents unfolded.
Sreesanth kept on moving away from his position while fielding and this irked Dhoni for a while.
His response was straightforward and witty on the same note. He asked Sreesanth, “Oye Sree, Girlfriend nahi hai udhar. Idhar aaja thoda”.
This when translated means “Come here. Your girlfriend is not waiting there.”
You do not mess with the skipper when the situation is against you.
3. Dhoni called out Robin Uthappa for being too slow in the field:
Uthappa was trying to field a ball and throw it back to MS, while he muffed it. Things took longer than usual. Dhoni really couldn’t keep his calm anymore. He bursted, “Girlfriend se raat mein baat kar lena. Pehle ball fek dey”.
He asked Uthappa to throw the ball first and in sarcasm to that, he said that talk to your girlfriend later. Though the rest remained a mysterious affair.
4. Dhoni faked a throw to scare Jadeja:
In an IPL match while keeping, Dhoni realised that the ball rolled off to a no-man’s land. He knew instantly that he will have to do the damage limitation.
After fielding the ball, in order to take Jaddu by surprise, he faked a throw at him from point-blank range and that scared the wits out of Jadeja. Well, he is Dhoni after all.
5. When Dhoni taught Raina to bowl:
It was India against Ireland in a lopsided encounter. Dhoni introduced Raina to the attack. William Porterfield was on strike. Initially Raina’s pitching the delivery was all over the place. However, this is when Dhoni chipped in with his wit.
He stated, “Woh volleyball ke tarah beech mein khada hua hai” which when translated roughly stands for, he is standing in the middle like a volleyball.
Raina shortly worked out his calculations and ended up with magical figures of 1-40.
