Suresh Raina Recalls Incident When MS Dhoni Asked Him To Sledge Umar Akmal
Nov 26, 2017 at 11:20 AM
If you are also one of the many who believes that MS Dhoni is behaviour on the field is as cool as his nickname ‘Captain Cool’, then the latest revelation from Suresh Raina is bound to change your perception towards the former India skipper.
The World Cup-winning skipper is known for his ice-cool approach on the cricket field. No matter what the situation is, Dhoni never looked losing his patience or trying to sledge any player from the opposition. But despite not relying on tactics like sledging or getting under the skin of the players, Dhoni managed to come out on top as a captain on most of the occasions and the anecdote shared by Raina perhaps proves how the 36-year old did his work as the skipper.
In a candid chat on Breakfast with Champions, Raina revealed a different facet of Dhoni’s personality. Recalling an incident which took place during a match between India and Pakistan, the out-of-favour batsman revealed that the veteran wicket-keeper batsman once urged him to continue sledging Umar Akmal during Pakistan’s run-chase after the latter complained off being abused.
“Once we were playing Pakistan and Umar Akmal was batting. He complained to Dhoni that I was abusing him. I just said that I did not abuse him. He (Dhoni) asked me what happened – I told him that I was trying to throw at Umar and asked him to score some runs to try and chase down the target,” Raina said.
“Dhoni told me, ‘give him more’. This means break him and build some pressure on him. He is a very good reader of the game. He knows what is going to happen and he knows the next step. He always takes three plans to the ground whether he is batting, fielding, wicket-keeping or captaining the side. He plans in the night and then visualises in the morning using his subconscious,” he added.
Here is the video of the show: