Jammu & Kashmir players get some valuable tips from Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Despite losing their Vijay Hazare clash against Jharkhand, the Jammu and Kashmir players gained some valuable cricketing tips from none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the former captain decided to spend some time with them where he answered all their cricketing queries. It was at the request of Jammu & Kashmir captain and India international Parvez Rasool that Dhoni decided to meet them.

“Mahibhai has always been helpful on cricketing matters. That’s his nature. It was a great opportunity to learn a thing or two from Mahibhai. He is a great guy. I played alongside him for India (Rasool’s skipper in his brief stint with India team were Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli),” Rasool was quoted as saying by Deccan Chronicle.

“I told him (Dhoni) few of our youngsters want to meet him for five minutes and within no time he obliged us and said ‘I will go from here’,” Rasool further added. Some of the Jammu Kashmir players were seeing Dhoni for the very first time in their life and it was a big moment for all of them. Their reserve wicket-keeper Raman Thaploo is a great fan of the former Indian captain and it was definitely once in a lifetime opportunity for him.

“It was a great opportunity for our youngsters who have seen Dhoni only on TV… They saw Mahibhai for the first time today. Mahi went inside and answered their cricketing queries.” Raman got some crucial tips from his idol. He also spoke at length with some of the struggling batsmen in the team especially with middle order batsman Ian Dev Singh. The youngster is going through a lean patch and has scores of 24, 0, 1, 13 and 2 in his last five outings.

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“He explained Raman how to react in subcontinent conditions. Our batsmen are going through bad patches. He said, ‘Every cricketer goes through a bad phase. When you are in good form, even a bad fielder takes a brilliant catch but its opposite in bad times. He said to work even harder in such testing times, be serious in the nets. You should not get out in nets. You will take confidence if you have this.”

Having partnered Dhoni for a 27 runs partnership in the recently concluded limited overs series against England, Rasool was awestruck with Dhoni’s game awareness and instinctive abilities. “He hit boundary through long-on off Chris Jordan and in the next ball, he hit another boundary bisecting point and covers. He told me he knew where he would pitch the ball. I asked him how to develop that instinct? He said “Always follow a bowler’s strength. When to bowl a slower one and a faster. Our youngsters enjoyed a lot,” he said.

Dhoni stepped down from India’s limited overs captaincy just before the ODI and T20 series in England thus handing over the reign to Virat Kohli. He continues to feature in the limited-overs team as a batsman and a wicketkeeper.