MS Dhoni and Sanjiv Goenka
MS Dhoni and Sanjiv Goenka

MS Dhoni received rich praise for his captaincy skills from Sanjiv Goenka, his former IPL boss. Goenka called MS Dhoni a GOAT captain and stated that he had never seen a captain like MS Dhoni before.

Notably, MS Dhoni had played two seasons of IPL for Sanjiv Goenka’s Rising Pune Supergiants. He captained the RPS team in IPL 2016, but Goenka infamously dumped him as captain after RPS failed to qualify for playoffs. Dhoni was replaced by Steve Smith, who took RPS to the final in IPL 2017.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained Dhoni for Rs 4 crore as an uncapped player for the IPL 2025 season. He is one of India’s most admired cricketers, respected by both fans and IPL franchise owners. Dhoni led the Super Kings to a record five IPL titles.

Never seen a captain like MS Dhoni: Sanjiv Goenka

In a recent interaction, Goenka opined on his equation with the CSK legend and heaped praise on him. Sanjiv Goenka believes MS Dhoni can reinvent himself even at his age. Goenka emphasized Dhoni’s role in developing young players like Pathirana into match-winners by maximizing their potential.

“I’ve never seen a leader like MS Dhoni. It’s crazy how even to this day he keeps reinventing himself. Just look at Pathirana, a baby bowler. Don’t know where MS saw him and now groomed him into a lethal match-winner. He knows how to use his players well, and he keeps on thinking. Whenever I interact with him, I always learn something,” Goenka said on the TRS podcast.

‘Whenever he plays against Lucknow, the entire stadium is filled with yellow to support him’

Sanjiv Goenka described how MS Dhoni spent 30 minutes answering cricket-related queries from his grandson. Goenka believes the human touch is a major factor in Dhoni’s enormous fan base in India. He claimed that stadiums in Lucknow turn yellow to support Dhoni during matches.

“Whenever I interact with him, I get to learn something. It was during the Lucknow vs Chennai match. I have an 11-year-old grandson who is crazy about cricket. Dhoni in my home taught him how to play cricket, some 5-6 years ago. He constantly asked him questions and I told my grandson ‘Leave him now’. Dhoni replied ‘Let it be, I am enjoying this conversation.

Dhoni went on to have a conversation with him for half an hour. This human quality with a kid where he spent so much time for a kid. It makes you learn how to speak with others and that is why he is Dhoni. Whenever he plays against Lucknow, the entire stadium is filled with yellow to support him,” Goenka stated.

Sanjiv Goenka-MS Dhoni RPSG dispute sorted?

Sanjiv Goenka stated that MS Dhoni has not talked since being sacked from the captaincy of the Rising Pune Super Giants (RPSG). Goenka noted that it is a private matter that was settled by mutual communication between two people.

“He has not spoken a word and will not. And it’s a private relationship. It’s a communication that was between two individuals, and two individuals concluded. And that was that. What is important is, that this relationship is still very good,” Goenka said.

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