'He played with the ego of MS Dhoni' - Irfan Pathan reveals story of Gautam Gambhir's tactical masterclass

While Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli's altercation has been doing the rounds in the media, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan shared an interesting story of the former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper getting inside the head of Chennai Super Kings' iconic skipper MS Dhoni. Pathan narrated the intriguing story while commentating on CSK's rain-marred match against Lucknow Super Giants.

MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings travelled to Lucknow to take on a bruised Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday, May 3. LSG's mentor Gautam Gambhir, who has been in the news ever since his on-field spat with Virat Kohli, has had a history with former Indian skipper MS Dhoni as well, and former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan narrated a story involving the two greats of Indian cricket.

Gambhir's KKR triumphed against Dhoni's CSK to claim their maiden IPL title in 2012, however, their tussle did not end there as the two captains fought for bragging rights for several following seasons. Irfan remembered the instance when Gambhir sensed Dhoni's susceptibility against spin and opted for close-in fielders to rattle the legendary finisher.

"Gautam Gambhir played with the ego of MS Dhoni when he was the captain of KKR. He was the only one who succeeded in rattling him for years. MS was rattled to the core by the field setting," Pathan, who was teammates with Dhoni at Pune, said while doing commentary in Hindi. 

Dhoni's plight against Gambhir's tactics was there to see for all when the former Indian skipper led the Rising Pune Super Giants in a game against KKR at the Eden Gardens in 2016. The two-time IPL-winning skipper deployed close-in fielders whenever Dhoni was on strike against the spinners, especially against an in-form Piyush Chawla. The RPS skipper struggled to cope against the spinners, managing just eight runs in 24 deliveries. KKR won the rain-affected match comfortably by eight wickets.