MS Dhoni is a man who wears many hats. His virtuosity wasn’t confined to the periphery of the cricket ground. Whether it’s his lightning-fast reflexes behind the stumps, or explosive batting, or the intuitive decisions he took as a captain, the nitty-gritty of his cricketing career is well documented by the cricketing fandom.
But none could have imagined Dhoni as a bus driver for his team. No wonder, for this cricketing legend, even our imaginations fall short.
VVS Laxman had come up with a startling revelation about Dhoni when the latter took charge of the bus and drove his team from the ground to the hotel.
“He was the captain of the Indian team because Anil (Kumble) announced his retirement two matches before in Delhi (in 2008). And MS Dhoni asked the team bus driver to just go and sit behind, and he drove the team bus from the ground to the hotel in Nagpur, and we were all awestruck. The captain of the Indian team, driving the team bus!” Laxman recalled in an episode of Star Sports’ show, ‘Cricket Connected’.
“That’s how he used to enjoy his life. For him, being a cricketer was doing everything on the cricket field, but outside the field, everything was normal,” he added.
Laxman further reminisced another interesting anecdote of the World Cup-winning captain when he scored the first century of his career in the 2006 Test against Pakistan.
“I still remember him coming back into the dressing room (after his maiden Test ton, versus Pakistan in Faisalabad in 2006) and loudly saying ‘I am going to announce my retirement – MS Dhoni, mai hundred maara Test cricket mein, bas yaar’.”
“I don’t want anything more from Test cricket!’ And we were shocked and surprised to hear that. But that’s what MS Dhoni always was,” concluded Laxman.
Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15. However, he will continue to lead the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
