IPL 2019: AB de Villiers hails MS Dhoni as one of the greatest ‘tactician’

Ever since making his international debut in 2004, MS Dhoni has garnered praises from every nook and corner of the world, mostly due to his calm and composed nature as well as his prudent cricketing brain. The 37-year-old has come a long way and is currently captaining the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a team who has won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title three times.

Dhoni wasn’t a part of the Super Kings when the franchise served a two-year suspension owing to involvement in betting scandals. However, the Jharkhand-born helped his team to glory last year and helped CSK restamp its authority in the T20 tournament. In the meantime, AB de Villiers, the former South African cricketer, hailed the keeper-batsman as one of the greatest ‘tactician’.

The 35-year-old talked about how Dhoni and his troops exerted pressure on the batting lineup of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening game at the  Chepauk. RCB lost that game by seven wickets after getting bowled out for 70 in 17.1 overs. The retired Proteas batter also lauded the veteran Harbhajan Singh and fast bowler Deepak Chahar for hitting the right channels.

AB’s words of praises for MS Dhoni  

“CSK field one of the most experienced teams in the tournament, with nine players over the age of 30. Captain MS Dhoni is one of the greatest tacticians in the history of the game and it wasn’t long before they began to apply the pressure in Game 1,” De Villiers wrote in his column for The Times of India (TOI).

“It’s very unusual for both opening bowlers to run straight through their four overs but, with Deepak Chahar maintaining a tight line from one end, Harbhajan Singh bowled with skill from the other end, producing grip and turn. All of a sudden, we were 39 for four after eight overs and the opening match of the tournament was running away from us,” he added.

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