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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are the most consistent franchise in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. They are second-most successful IPL side after Mumbai Indians (MI) but they were absent from the tournament for two seasons due to ban. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a part of the CSK side in every season and has led them to the title four times. While CSK go through a horrible season, their batting coach and Dhoni’s former teammate Michael Hussey recalled the time when Dhoni got emotional.
"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.
Dhoni had represented now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) in two seasons in 2016 and 2017. CSK made a perfect comeback to IPL by winning the title for the fourth time.
Dhoni had his second-best IPL season with the bat as well. He scored 455 runs from 16 games at an average of 75.83 including three half-centuries. He had a high score of unbeaten 79. Also, he scored at a strike rate of 150.66.
"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 former Australian cricketer was also asked about his favourite T20 batter. The southpaw rated former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter AB de Villiers highly along with skipper Dhoni.
“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,” the 46-year-old 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.”
