'Even at the Ripe of Age of 42, He Still Knows How to be...': Shane Watson on MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known for his zen-like demeanour on the field and rarely shows his emotions during a match or even after. Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson feels MS Dhoni doesn’t need to show his intensity on the field.

Watson also lauded Kohli for being the most mentally strong player.

“But then you’ve got on the other side of the fence is MS Dhoni, who is opposite of that intensity from Virat (Kohli). He doesn’t need to be like nine out of 10 with his intensity level; he needs to be at around six. But he needs to be in that sort of pocket where he’s still fully engaged and trusting his intuition because it’s as good as there’s ever been,” Watson said in an exclusive interview with IANS, on the sidelines of his new book ‘The Winner’s Mindset’.

“Even at the ripe of age of 42, he still knows how to be able to let his mind be free to be able to access his skills that are so deeply ingrained. So, MS Dhoni, his understanding of the information and the world around him, to be able to break that into really simple concepts is one of his superpowers.”

“That’s the reason why he’s been able to be such a successful leader because he knows how to redirect players at the right time – whether it’s in game or in the lead-up to games. But then it’s also about him doing that for himself as well.

“So that’s why for me there’s no surprise why he continues to play so well even in this sort of smaller capacity that he has from a batting perspective, like last three overs. But you can see from a keeping perspective, he’s still keeping as well as he ever has. So those two guys (Kohli and Dhoni) stand out to me the most in terms of the current players,” added Watson.

The veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dhoni amassed 161 runs in 14 innings for the Chennai Super Kings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, including wowing the crowd with 14 fours and 13 sixes.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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