Ravichandran Ashwin shares his Top 5 moments with MS Dhoni

Ravinchandran Ashwin was one of those bowlers who came, settled and flourished in the Indian Team because of Dhoni. He has mostly played all his international matches under the captaincy of Dhoni. Not just internationally, but even in the IPL. He lately spoke about Dhoni in his Youtube Series called, Reminisce with Ash and spoke a lot about the Former Indian Skipper. 

He firstly spoke on Dhoni’s retirement from the Tests in 2014 and told, “We are all aware that MS Dhoni quit his Test career in a similar manner in Australia. In fact MS Dhoni and I were batting together to save the Test in Melbourne. And once the Test match was over, he plucked the stumps and on the way he said that he was done. And then he went to the press conference and called it quits in his own style. It was an emotional moment. In fact, I remember Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina and myself sitting in his room that evening and he was wearing his Test match jersey for the entire night and he was having a few tears.” 

Ashwin also recalled the time when he 1^st played under Dhoni’s leadership in CSK in the 2008’s IPL. Lastly, he spoke about he dismissed the then Indian Captain in the Challenger Trophy for the 1^st time in his career in the Challenger Trophy. He went onto mention the best 5 moments alongside MSD. 

1^st Moment- CSK vs KXIP in 2010 IPL in Dharmshala 

Ashwin revealed how Dhoni kept his composure till the end to smash Irfan Pathan all over the ground to help CSK reach into the playoffs spot. He said, “I am going to go a long way back to 2010 in Dharamshala. CSK was really in trouble and in the final game we had to beat KXIP to qualify for the semi-finals. I remember very clearly that I was dropped for the entire season, came back and went on to be the best bowler of the season. But MS Dhoni killed the entire night by hitting those monstrous sixes off Irfan Pathan and took CSK to the semi-final and in fact we won the IPL that year.” 

2^nd Moment- Champions League 2010 against Victoria Bushrangers’s David Hussey 

That instance particularly related to the super over, when Ashwin was handled the ball and he conceded 3 sixes in the super over. He narrated the entire instance and said, “MS Dhoni, in that particular tournament, taught me a very important lesson. I bowled the Super Over against Victoria Bushrangers and he came up quietly and said that I did not go to my best ball under pressure, that I had the carrom ball and had to use it a lot more. That is something he always maintained with respect to me, he said I was very very innovative and always maintained that I must keep sharpening that aspect of my game.” 

3^rd Moment- 2011 World Cup Final knock by Dhoni 

Everybody in the country was aware that day about Dhoni’s heroic 79 ball, unbeaten 91 and the six to lift the trophy. Dhoni collected praises from all over the world for his decision making and calmness under such a pressure situation. Ashwin said, “The 2011 campaign was nothing short of drama with the Indian team having gone through everything. And finally when the business end came, the final, until when I don’t remember MS Dhoni scoring anything big in the World Cup but he walked out like a man who wanted to face the music and played one of the most decisive knocks in a World Cup final. Everybody went numb that night, one of the best nights of my cricketing career.” 

4^th Moment – Champion Trophy 2013’s Last over against England 

Dhoni showed great trust in both Jadeja as well as Ashwin in that entire tournament. With Ishant Sharma’s 18^th over paying off, Dhoni’s mindset was clear and only known to him. When both set batsman were sent to pavilion, Ashwin was handled the last over to defend a limited score. India won the Champions Trophy by 5 runs.  

Ashwin spoke the day and quoted, “I went wicketless in the first game of the Champions Trophy and subsequently Jadeja had a wonderful tournament and MS Dhoni constantly came up to me and said that Jaddu is picking the wickets but that’s how the game is and that my moment will surely come in that tournament and he believed that I could deliver. This is something he said not once, but multiple times including on the final night. In the final over of the Champions Trophy he said that my thought process was perfect and he was sure that I would be able to deliver and he gave the ball to me in the final over.” 

5^th Moment – Chepauk Test in 2013 against Australia 

That match was very special for both Dhoni as well as Ashwin as the former made 224 runs in the 1^st innings and Ashwin took 12 wickets. Ashwin quoted, “The last or fifth memory is the Chepauk Test in 2013 against Australia. It was the best Test match I have been a part of personally and for MS Dhoni. He went on to score a double-hundred, I picked up 13 (12) wickets. At the end of the Test match he came up to me in his own humble way and said that he was the Man of the Match but he was sure that I would be the Man of the Series.” 

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