Sunil Gavaskar heaps high praise on MS Dhoni's captaincy; 'Lets them express themselves'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and clinched their fourth IPL title in the history of the tournament. From finishing IPL 2020 placed 7th in the points table to winning the trophy in 2021, the MS Dhoni-led squad indeed kept its promise to the fans - making a strong comeback.

One of the major reasons behind the consistency and dominance of CSK in the IPL is the captaincy of MS Dhoni. In fact, during the CSK vs KKR match, Ian Bishop said that MS Dhoni has a computer-like mind. Now, Team India's former cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has lauded MS Dhoni for his brilliant leadership.

Following the completion of the CSK vs KKR match, Sunil Gavaskar lavished praise on MS Dhoni and the CSK for their dominance in the IPL. Speaking to Star Sports broadcasters, Gavaskar outlined that MS Dhoni has been impressive because he shows full faith in his team.

'I haven't been fortunate enough to share dressing room with MSD,' says Gavaskar

Lavishing praise on the CSK skipper, Gavaskar said,

"It's very impressive because he has shown faith in the players. Look, you know the ability of the players and you also know that in this game of cricket, there will be days when a player doesn't do well. He might be a brilliant fielder but might drop catches and misfield.

As a batsman, you could also get out to full-tosses. And also, for the bowlers, they may bowl the occasional bad ball which gets hit for sixes. But if you know as a captain a player's capability, you allow them that bad day or a bad over and that is why Dhoni is so good."

"With him what happens is that he just doesn't put any pressure on his own team. He just lets them express themselves. It is so true in MSD's case. He doesn't seem to interfere at all in anybody's gameplan. Every individual has his own gameplan. And once the captain is convinced that is how it is, he is not going to interfere," added Gavaskar.

Furthermore, Gavaskar said,

"I haven't been fortunate enough to have been in the same change room as MS Dhoni. But I just see the calmness that he brings to situations. He is not Captain Cool for nothing. There is never any panic. For the first time in that 19th over, when Thakur bowled wides, for the first time, I saw him diddle a bit because it was only delaying the inevitable."

CSK vs KKR

In the CSK vs KKR IPL 2021 final, Faf du Plessis set the stage for the 'Men in Yellow' as he scored 86 runs and missed the Orange cap by just 2 runs. Apart from him, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa also made crucial contributions and pushed the team's total to 192 in 20 overs. In reply, KKR scored 165 runs in 20 overs. 

(Image: iplt20.com/BCCI/PTI)