Simon Taufel is considered as one of the best umpires the cricketing world has ever seen. He stood behind the wickets in many memorable matches, including the 2011 World Cup. In the year 2012, the 48-year-old bid adieu to his job. The Australian won the prestigious ICC Umpire of the year five times on the trot from 2004 to 2008. Overall, he umpired in 74 Tests, 174 ODIs, and 34 T20Is.
Being one of the most experienced umpires, Simon was rich with knowledge of the game, and that guided him to the role of ICC’s Umpire Performance and Training Manager position. Since he was one of the finest brains out there, Simon has seen many cricketers with immense knowledge of the captivating game, and recently he was asked about the same.
While speaking to sports presenter Gaurav Kapur on his podcast, 22 yarns, Simon was quizzed to reveal three names who according to him has been the best cricketing brain. The former umpire picked Australian duo of Darren Lehmann and Shane Warne along with former Indian captain MS Dhoni as the best cricketing brains. Simon hailed Dhoni’s sense of humour and calmness.
“MS Dhoni, I find him amazing. He’s got one of the best cricket brains I’ve ever come across – [him], Darren Lehmann and Shane Warne would be the top three cricket brains that I’ve been fortunate to come across. MS Dhoni is so calm – he’s so relaxed – but he’s also got a sense of humour that most people wouldn’t get to see,” said Simon.
Dhoni has always been on the receiving end of praiseworthy comments by his fans, cricket experts, ex-cricketers and his teammates from both the national team and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.
When it comes to Lehmann and Warne, both were part of the great Australian side which dominated world cricket for quite a few years. Warne even exhibited his magic in the IPL when the leg-spinner led Rajasthan Royals to win the coveted trophy in the inaugural season of the cash-rich league.
Lehmann, later, became Australia’s head coach but was asked to resign after the much-talked ‘Sandpaper Saga’.
