Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar revealed that he had a chat with MS Dhoni during Virat Kohli’s wedding in 2017 & Dhoni said that he would consider himself fit for International cricket as long as he is “beating the fastest sprinter in the team.”
Manjrekar quoted as saying, “During Virat Kohli’s wedding, I had a little corner time with him and he said as long as ‘I am beating the fastest sprinter in the team, I am going to consider myself fit enough to be playing international cricket or playing high-level cricket’,”
“People like Tendulkar, Dhoni, these are champion cricketers. Once they are on public stage, you will never see Dhoni ever on a public stage, like a cricket field, looking slightly unfit or unable to sprint or run…,” he said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
Dhoni was last seen in action during the 2019 World Cup Semi-finals against New Zealand in which India lost to New Zealand. Manjrekar also said that Dhoni would be in a good form when he will be playing in the IPL by saying that the presence of just handful of bowlers in the league is not enough to trouble the champion player.
Dhoni has started his practicing sessions in Ranchi & getting ready to captain the CSK team in the IPL 2020 which will commence from 19th September in the UAE.
“He is going to be very good and one of the reasons he is so successful and consistent in IPL as a batsman as opposed to international is that he knows that there are about four to five bowlers to handle,” Manjrekar said.
“There are some good ones and there are some not so good ones in the IPL. In international, you have got five quality bowlers, so he’s so good at picking out those guys and going after them,” added Manjrekar.
“So, as a batter, with MS Dhoni in the IPL, I don’t see much difference.”
“In fact, the conditions that we have, I keep saying, is just perfect for Dhoni, where it’s going to be about the mind and not just power hitting,” Manjrekar signed off.
MS Dhoni has led the Chennai Super Kings to three IPL titles & has played 190 games in the cash-rich T20 league, scoring 4,432 runs.
