Former India and current Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni just won his fifth IPL trophy. Dhoni’s CSK defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) in the summit clash of IPL 2023 to emerge as champions. However, Dhoni has long hung up his boots from international cricket, especially Tests. The veteran wicketkeeper batter retired in 2014. But Dhoni still remains an inspiration for the younger generation including KS Bharat.
The 29-year-old from Andhra Pradesh has been selected in India’s squad for the World Test Championship Final against Australia and is likely to start in the playing XI ahead of Ishan Kishan. This will be Bharat’s first international Test match in England and the wicketkeeper batter is pretty excited about it. However, he is also a tad nervous about his job to keep wickets in England.
Nevertheless, a piece of advice from MS Dhoni seems to have calmed the nerves as Bharat explained during a chat with ICC. The 29-year-old how Dhoni shared his experience of keeping the wickets in England during a chat between the two individuals in IPL 2023.
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“Recently during the IPL I had a word with Mahendra,” Bharat told the ICC in an interview with Sanjana Ganesan at The Oval. “He (talked about) his experiences keeping in England as well as what would work the best for any wicket-keeper. It was a very good conversation and there were a lot of insights from that.”
KS Bharat looking to emulate MS Dhoni
KS Bharat then also mentioned MS Dhoni’s name when he was asked to explain what qualities are required to become a good wicketkeeper. Bharat said that the awareness Dhoni shows behind the wickets is something to learn and he looks to emulate it.
“It’s the awareness – the best example is MS Dhoni, the awareness he has in keeping is outstanding,” Bharat said.
“You need intent and passion to be a keeper, because keeping is a thankless job. You keep 90 overs in a Test day and you have to be concentrating ball by ball, so you have to accept the challenges and embrace it and be really passionate about contributing to the team.”
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