Ravichandran Ashwin considers Dhoni to have the smartest cricketing brain

Ravichandran Ashwin started his innings a captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the 2018 season when he was picked as the skipper of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). In his second year, however, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner did not exactly leave behind an impression as the captain as he found himself in the middle of two big controversies in the first two games for his side. While he chose to ‘Mankad’ an in-form opponent batsman in the game against Rajasthan Royals (RR), he erred in placing the right number of fielders inside the circle against Kolkata Knight Riders that saw the Kings paying dearly.

Last year, the 32-year-old had said that he would be the most unpredictable captain once he grabbed the top job and so far in his second season, he has proved himself to be a controversial captain if not an unpredictable one. The off-spinner, who plays Tests regularly for India, however, doesn’t consider himself to be the best captain yet and thinks his former skipper – both in the national team and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as the best in the business.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Ashwin was asked to name the smartest cricketing brain he knows and after a brief thought, he said: “MS Dhoni”.

Ashwin will be playing against his favourite captain in the IPL when the Kings will be taking on the Super Kings in Chennai on April 6. It will be a key game for the Punjab side after they beat Mumbai handsomely recently.

The off-spinner has played a long part of his career under the captaincy of Dhoni across all formats besides in the CSK that have won three titles under the World Cup-winning captain. CSK have continued to impress in their title defence campaign this season as they won their first two games and also ended in a strong position in the third match against the RR in Chennai, thanks to Dhoni again for his 75 not out off 46 balls after his team lost three wickets for 27 runs.

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