IPL 2023: ‘I used to be very annoyed, irritated with Dhoni’: Robin Uthappa reveals MS Dhoni’s mind games

Robin Uthappa explains about MS Dhoni's captaincy tactics.

CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the greatest leaders in World Cricket. The ‘Captain Cool’ uses mind-tricks to deceive the opposition batters and take wickets. Former CSK batter Robin Uthappa recently spoke in detail about how it was “annoying” to play against Dhoni in the tournament. Uthappa narrated references from his own playing days, revealing how Dhoni used to “play with batsmen’s minds.”

“When I played against CSK, I used to be very annoyed. I was very irritated with him. (Narrating an incident playing on-screen) He didn’t have a fine leg for Hazlewood, so I knew he would bowl to this angle (outside-off). I tried getting a boundary there (deep point), and got out. He forces you to play in areas where you’re not used to playing,” Uthappa told JioCinema.

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Uthappa said Dhoni pushes his bowlers to take wickets.

“He plays with the batsmen’s mind. He not just forces the batsmen to think differently, he forces the bowlers to think differently as well. He puts the bowler in a situation where he feels that he needs to take that wicket-taking option.”

Uthappa also recalled how Dhoni trapped Rajasthan Royals’ Devdutt Padikkal.

“Devdutt was playing the pick-up shot really well. So he said, ‘okay, we will force him to play that shot’, and he brought the fine leg more into a leg-gully sort of a position. I was like, ‘where does he come up with these things?’” Uthappa revealed.

IPL 2024

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