‘MSD Wasn’t Competing Against DK, He was...’: How Dhoni’s Thought Process Made Him a Legend

Legendary MS Dhoni has influenced countless individuals throughout his cricketing career and in fact, he continues to do so. People who have been around him are very well aware of his aura and his way of dealing with things. The tales of his greatness are unending and one of them has been recently narrated by former India batter Aakash Chopra.

The cricketer-turned-commentator recalled an incident involving himself and Dhoni that made him realize that the latter was destined for greater things. Back in 2004 when the India A team toured Zimbabwe and Kenya, Dinesh Karthik was above Dhoni in the pecking order. Chopra was a little surprised to see Dhoni bowling to Karthik in the nets. He went and asked Dhoni why is bowling to Karthik instead of brushing his own skillset.

The young Dhoni surprised Chopra with his answer, giving the latter an idea about his way of analysing the game.

“It was the year 2004 when India A had the tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe. MS Dhoni was the reserve keeper and Dinesh Karthik played in the XI. Once as he was bowling to Karthik in the nets, I asked Dhoni ‘Why are you bowling to him? He is your direct competition. If he does well, you don’t play in the XI. You should practice batting or keeping. Why bowling?’ To this, Dhoni said ‘Please don’t stop me. I want to bowl. If you want to bat you can, I will bowl to you too’,” Chopra said in a video shared on Twitter.

The former cricketer further highlighted how Dhoni’s thought process brought immense success to him over the years, which ultimately made him one of the greatest cricketers in the world.

“When I look back, I realized the meaning of that incident and understood why only he has been able to achieve what he has. Dhoni wasn’t competing against Dinesh Karthik or anybody else. He was competing with himself. So, there’s the lesson. Be the best version of yourself because you are your biggest competition,” he added.