Paddy Upton reveals what makes MS Dhoni a special player

For Paddy Upton, a stint with India has indeed been exciting. It is during his association with the Men in Blue, arguably the most popular cricketing side of the world, that the South African had come to learn a lot of things that he shared in the form of a book later. After revelations about former opener Gautam Gambhir’s mental insecurities and jokingly asking the Indian cricketers to have sex, the 50-year-old now has opened up on MS Dhoni, India’s former World Cup-winning captain.

Upton was India’s mental conditioning coach during their successful campaign in the 2011 World Cup at home. Dhoni was in charge of affairs in that tournament and according to Upton, the former skipper had qualities that had set himself apart from his colleagues and made him special.

It is not something new to learn about Captain Cool’s composure even at crunch moments of games but the confirmation of the same from a mental conditioning coach made things sweeter for MSD’s fans to hear again.

‘Dhoni has intuitive feeling for the game’

“He (Dhoni) has calmness, composure, clarity and he influences other players. They are able to feel calm and composed themselves. The knowledge that Dhoni would come to the crease after them makes the batsmen feel easier. He manages the high-pressure moments well. He has an intuitive feeling for the game,” Upton was quoted as saying by The Hindu. Dhoni had promoted himself up the batting order in the final against Sri Lanka in the 2011 edition and guided his side to a famous victory with an unbeaten 91.

The 37-year-old Dhoni has given up India’s captaincy for some years now but yet his reading the game from behind the stumps and the inputs he gives to his captain Virat Kohli and the bowlers are considered almost a fourth pillar of India’s success in white ball cricket. Dhoni quit Test cricket in December 2014.

In the upcoming World Cup starting May 30 in which Dhoni will be playing a vital cog in India’s cricketing machine, he is expected to make Kohli’s task easier on the ground as the Men in Blue will look to win yet another World Cup title after eight years.

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