MS Dhoni: The only player who has captained all his coaches in IPL
The twelfth edition of the Indian Premier League is set to begin from March 29, 2019. There are a total of eight teams participating in the 2019 VIVO IPL. The two most successful teams in the history of the IPL are Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings with three titles each.
Lasith Malinga, who was picked up by Mumbai Indians in the recently held auctions, is the most successful bowler in the history of IPL with 154 wickets. Vice-captain of CSK, Suresh Raina, is the most successful batsman in IPL history with 4985 runs.
Talking about CSK, their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has captained all of his coaches at the club.
The veteran of the game, MS Dhoni, made his ODI debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh and Test debut in December 2005 against Sri Lanka. Dhoni represented India in 90 Tests and scored 4876 runs including 33 half-centuries and six centuries at an average of 38.09. He retired from Test Cricket after nine years of successful career in 2014.
The wicketkeeper-batsman has also played 335 ODI matches and recently became the fourth Indian and twelveth overall to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. The former captain has scored 1487 runs at a healthy average of 37.17 in 93 T20 matches for India.
Dhoni has been the captain in all the IPL seasons which CSK has been part of. He was the most expensive in the inaugural season of the IPL with US$1.5 million. In IPL 2018, he scored 455 runs and led CSK to their third title.
Let us now talk about all the three coaches of Chennai Super Kings who have played under MS Dhoni.
Note: CSK's fielding coach Rajiv Kumar did not play in the IPL and so, is not included in the list.
#1 Lakshipathy Balaji
The right-arm medium-fast bowler, who hails from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, played for a decade for India. Balaji made his ODI debut in November 2002 against Windies. He took 34 wickets with an economy of 5.57 in 30 matches.
Due to persistent injuries, his Test career did not last long. He played only eight Test matches between 2003-05 and picked up 27 wickets including a five-wicket-haul.
Balaji is the current bowling coach of CSK and has played under MS Dhoni both at the international level and IPL. He has played for three IPL Franchise, first three editions with CSK and then with KKR and Kings XI Punjab.
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