Captain Cool MS Dhoni bid adieu to all forms of captaincy in India colours with a warm-up encounter against England at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The result might not have gone Dhoni’s way, but that doesn’t tarnish his inspiring legacy one bit. Dhoni remains India’s most successful captain in all forms of the game, and second only to Australia’s Ricky Ponting in terms of most ODI’s won.
On the sidelines of the game, veteran Indian pacer Ashish Nehra spoke about Dhoni’s master class and the things which made him an absolute champion captain. The left-arm pacer was in complete awe of Dhoni and said that even when he wouldn’t remain the captain, the team members would always regard Dhoni as Captain Cool.
“For me, he will always be the captain, Nehra said in his interaction with bcci.tv before the game. “Yesterday, I met him after 5-6 months and the first thing, I asked was how are you captain?”
Nehra added that he learnt quite a bit from Dhoni while playing for IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. “What he has done everybody knows. But more for me, personally, I spent so much time with him in the Chennai Super Kings’ dressing room, people have seen what he has done on the field but he is an amazing guy off the field as well,” Nehra said.
Adding that Dhoni isn’t too fussed about numbers, Nehra said, “He is not worried about what people say, he is not worried about stats or any records. He just comes, plays and enjoys. He is the same normal guy. He just loves doing things which he does.”
“On the field, he is a great role model for the whole of India and even in the dressing room, any youngsters comes, everybody looks up to him. The way he prepares for the game and his mental strength, which I am always the fan of,” concluded Nehra.