MS Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket history and a bona fide legend of the game. Even though the Ranchi-born has hanged his boots from international cricket, he still continues to be respected all over. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He holds the record of being the only captain to have won all three major ICC tournaments.
Recently, the veteran stumper was present at a function where he inaugurated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – funded MS Dhoni Global School in Hosur. He spoke to a large crowd of mostly students at the event, when a young girl asked him about his cricketing idol. To this the former Indian skipper replied ‘it was always Sachin Tendulkar’ and the answer drew a huge cheer from the crowd.
Dhoni also revealed that in his early days he tried to bat like Sachin but soon realised that his style of batting was different and he could not play like him.
“Well, as a cricket role model, it is always Sachin Tendulkar. I was exactly like you guys, I used to watch Sachin Tendulkar play and always thought, ‘I want to play like him.’ Later on, I realised, I can’t play like him but inside in my heart, I always wanted to play like him,” said Dhoni when quizzed about his cricket role model while growing up.
During the same event Dhoni even spoke upon the issue of sports not qualifying as a school subject when a girl popped the question – “What was his favourite subject in school?” Dhoni replied: “Does sport qualify for a subject?”
MSD was last seen in action during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and has confirmed about his participation in the cash-rich competition next year. In IPL 2022, he scored 232 runs while remained not out on six occasions. The wicketkeeper-batter averaged 33.14 in the tournament with one half-century.
