'No sir, he will spoil the team' - N Srinivasan recalls when MS Dhoni refused to take an 'outstanding player' in CSK

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni fondly known as ‘Captain Cool’ is known for his great temperament and tremendous composure. He has one of the finest cricketing minds and is often hailed as an incredible strategy thinker. There have been many instances in the past where Dhoni has bowled everyone with his presence of mind on the cricket field.

Recently, former BCCI president N Srinivasan recalled an anecdote involving Dhoni where the latter refused to take an “outstanding player” in the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings because he felt that the player would have broken the cohesion within the team.

Srinivasan is the head of India Cements which owns IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) while the Ranchi stalwart has been associated with CSK since the inaugural edition of the cash-rich league. In a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Srinivasan shed light on how the instincts and judgement of Mahi played a role in CSK’s success.

“There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: ‘no sir, he will spoil the team’. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time,” Srinivasan said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“In India, we’re just starting and we’re new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels. We’re awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they’re going to come against and they see how he got out, what’s his strength, what’s his weakness etc,” he added.

MS Dhoni is a pure instinct man: N Srinivasan

While speaking on Dhoni in the webinar, the former BCCI president revealed that the Ranchi-born wicket-keeper refrains himself from judging a cricketer on his stats. Instead, Dhoni focuses on seeing their performance in the nets or pressure situations to know about their calibre.

“So, MS Dhoni doesn’t attend this, he’s a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he’ll get up and go.

In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that’s his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much data that is available to help a person also analyse. It’s a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct),” Srinivasan said.

Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is the only skipper to have led his team in nine out of the 12 finals so far. Chennai Super Kings has won the T20 Trophy three times under Mahi’s leadership. He also has the record of winning the most number of matches as the captain for his team in the cash-rich league.