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In the 15-season journey of the IPL, MS Dhoni has been synonymous with Chennai Super Kings, leading the franchise to four IPL titles. He captained the team right from its inception in the year 2008, and led them to nine IPL finals, the most by any skipper in the tournament history. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
Dhoni lay hands on elusive IPL title with CSK in 2010 when they defeated Mumbai Indians in the final. Twelve years hence, the franchise has four titles, two Champions League T20 trophies and 11 top-four IPL finishes, making it the most successful outfit alongside Mumbai.
The team has had rough times as well. It served out a two-year ban for the management’s role in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal. But Dhoni led the Chennai franchise to its third IPL title in 2018, making it a dream return to the competition following the hiatus.
Former CSK star Michael Hussey, who was appointed the team’s batting coach in 2018, opened up about his favourite moment with the yellow outfit. He recalled Dhoni’s rousing speech at the start of the 2018 edition and said the skipper had tears in his eyes, marking the start of a “special” season.
Dhoni played for the Pune Supergiants between 2016 and 2017 during CSK’s suspension from the league.
“I think there’s not one particular memory but we see these championship-winning photos on the wall… I think probably the 2018 season. We were out of the competition for two years. We came back and I remember MS giving a speech right at the start of the season. He actually started tearing; tears were coming out of his eyes and I remember thinking, ‘Something special is happening here’,” Hussey told Matthew Hayden in a ‘Super Reunion’ video shared by CSK.
“That was a special season. It gives you goosebumps just thinking about what happened that year. It was almost like it was meant to be after coming back to the IPL. MS played unbelievably well throughout the season. It was just a special time,” he added.
The 46-year-old Australian also picked AB de Villiers and Dhoni as his favourite T20 cricketers for their ability to turn the game on its head. He underlined how Dhoni gauges his innings while coming down the batting order.
“AB de Villiers is probably my favourite and MS is up there as well. Because what they could do in the middle order, not many people in the whole world could do that. Like there are great players at the top of the order who can do that role and do it amazingly well,” Hussey said.
“But not too many people can do what de Villiers did… coming in with 20 balls to go and smacking 70. He was unbelievable, and even MS. Just the way he (Dhoni) calculated it. Not many people in the history of T20 cricket can do what those two did.”
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