Chase master. The title was synonymous with MS Dhoni’s name in ODI cricket. The former India captain had cracked the code in 50-over cricket. Explosive finishes, taking the game deep, and chasing targets down. That was Dhoni’s expertise.
It was under him that Virat Kohli followed the same template, and you can argue the ‘chase master’ title belongs to him now. In many ways, he inspired one of the greatest ODI batters of all. Not to forget, Dhoni belongs in the same category.
When Dhoni taught the ODI tempo to Mandeep Singh
Indian cricketer Mandeep Singh has shared how Dhoni taught him how to practise and construct his innings to succeed in ODI cricket. The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter revealed how Dhoni asked him to change his methods after observing him in the nets.
“When I was in the team, I was always trying to hit boundaries. One day in practice, Mahi bhai called me and asked, ‘If you score a hundred, how many boundaries will you hit?’ I said maybe 11–12. He said, ‘So that’s 50 runs. Where will the other 50 come from?’ I said through singles and doubles.
Then he asked, ‘In 60 balls, you’ll take singles or doubles on 50 of them. Do you practise those 50 balls more, or only the 12 boundary balls?’ I honestly told him I only focused on hitting boundaries. Mahi bhai then said, ‘If you look to rotate strike on every ball, find gaps, and take singles and doubles, you reduce your risk automatically. And when the loose ball comes, you can put it away for a boundary.’
From that day onwards, I followed this rigorously. Whenever I was practicing for white-ball cricket, I made sure I practiced this mindset deeply. It helped me a lot,” Mandeep told CricTracker.
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