'Wow! I never even thought like that': Venkatesh Iyer reveals how MS Dhoni's tactics outsmarted him in IPL 2023

MS Dhoni’s tactical brilliance and game awareness along with his calm demeanour is what makes him among the greatest captains in cricketing history. It is that approach towards captaincy after all that has helped Dhoni win three ICC titles and five Indian Premier League trophies.

Kolkata Knight Riders and India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer recently narrated an incident during this year’s IPL that further established Dhoni’s stature as a cricketing genius.

“I was batting and I played a shot and got out at short third man. I turned around and saw ‘He is standing wrong. That’s not where a fielder stands. He is standing at a wrong position; he should be more to the right. Then I realised ‘Oh’,” the Madhya Pradesh cricketer said on Figuring Out with Raj Shamani.

“I asked him after the match, ‘Bhaiyya, kyu?’ (Brother, why?) He said the way the ball was leaving my bat; the fielders should be a lot finer.

“I was like ‘Wow! I never even thought like that’. To think so quickly then and there, and to understand the angle – cricket is all about angles – to read it is I think his biggest strength,” added Iyer.

The incident Iyer was referring to took place during Chennai Super Kings’ home game against KKR at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on 14 May. Kolkata were off to a shaky start after restricting CSK to a sub-par 144/6, losing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz with just four on board.

Iyer had driven a couple of fuller deliveries from Deepak Chahar through the off side, collecting a boundary on each occasion, only to perish to a shorter delivery that resulted in an edge towards short third that Dhoni chose to place close to him.

A solid fourth-wicket stand between skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh worth 99 however, would guide KKR to a six-wicket victory in the match.

Dhoni would later lead CSK to victory over Gujarat Titans in the final in Ahmedabad to win his fifth IPL title.

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