IPL 2023: There will never be a captain like MS Dhoni – Sunil Gavaskar

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has showered praise on MS Dhoni, stating that there hasn’t been a captain like him and will never be one in the future. Dhoni is regarded as one of the shrewdest minds to have ever graced the sport.

The veteran is known to stay two steps ahead of the opposition and he is once again getting the best out of CSK’s players. Dhoni had led Indian cricket to new heights during his leadership stint and has helped CSK win the title on four occasions, the second-most for any team after Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, CSK registered an eight-run win against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Monday, and Dhoni played a key role as a leader in guiding his team to victory. The wicket-keeper also took two pivotal catches to dismiss Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, who both were going all guns blazing.

“CSK know how to get out of tough situations. This has been possible only under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Captaining 200 matches is very difficult. Captaining so many matches is a burden and it could have affected his performance as well,” Gavaskar, himself a former India captain, said.

“But Mahi is different. He is a different captain. There hasn’t been a captain like him and there will never be one like him in the future,” said Gavaskar in a release from IPL broadcasters.

Earlier, Dhoni became the first captain to lead one franchise (CSK) in 200 IPL matches during the game against RR. Dhoni’s record as CSK skipper is 121 wins, 79 losses, and one no-result till the match against RCB.

On the other hand, the Little Master also showered praise on Virat Kohli for giving solid starts to RCB while batting at the top of the order. Kohli scored a crucial knock of 50 runs against DC but he was dismissed cheaply against CSK. Kohli has thus far scored 220 runs in five matches of IPL 2023.

Gavaskar said, “Virat Kohli is giving RCB flying starts at the start of the innings. He deserves a lot of credit for the starts RCB is getting and the runs the team is managing to post on the board because of his starts. These are good signs for RCB.”

The four-time champions CSK will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday.