MS Dhoni's 5 most hilarious moments in press conferences
During his captaincy stint with the Indian team and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), MS Dhoni gave his fans a moment to rejoice with his sense of humor and quirky lines. His responses in press conferences went viral due to his large fan base and cricket fraternity's love for his frank nature.
The former Indian captain played 538 games across all formats and amassed over 17,000 runs, with 16 centuries and 108 fifties. Under his leadership, the Men in Blue lifted the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
Moreover, he captained CSK from 2008-23 season, and helped them win five IPL titles, while scoring over 5,000 runs. Interestingly, he is reportedly set to appear in the next season as an uncapped player.
With so much responsibility and success come questions from reporters regarding his career and team combinations. MS Dhoni tackled them all in a confident fashion, which impressed the reporters as well. On that note, let's take a look at Dhoni's five most hilarious press conference moments.
#1 Playful banter with a reporter asking whether he will continue playing post 2016 WC
After India lost the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final to West Indies on home soil, one of the foreign reporters asked MS Dhoni whether he will consider retirement, after having achieved so much in his playing career.
In response, Dhoni called the reporter to sit alongside him. Then, the former keeper asked the reporter, "Do you think I am unfit?" to which the journalist replied no. "Looking at me running," Dhoni continued as the reporter replied, "very fast".
Further Dhoni asked, "Do you think I can survive till the 2019 World Cup?". The reporter replied, "sure, yes, sure."
Then, Dhoni conveyed to the reporter that he has successfully answered his question. He eventually went to play for India until the 2019 World Cup.
#2 Dhoni's musical analogy for the team's combination for the 2011-12 Tri-nation series
Following a crushing 0-4 Test series defeat to Australia in the 2011-12 tour, many young players joined the Indian team for the tri-nation ODI series involving Sri Lanka as well. These included Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Umesh Yadav.
When asked by the reporter on the transition of playing with senior players in the Test side to the younger lot in the ODI series, Dhoni said:
“From Kishore Kumar, we have gone to Sean Paul.” [H/t Wion]
Although Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, and Zaheer Khan were few of the experienced players along with Dhoni, the majority of them were youngsters in the squad. The Indian team went on to win the Tri-nation series after winning by seven wickets in the final against Sri Lanka.
#3 Using 'lot of cars and bikes' analogy for Harbhajan Singh during IPL 2018
Although Harbhajan Singh was a part of Chennai Super Kings' XI in the IPL 2018 Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he didn't throw down even a solitary over. The skipper MS Dhoni used five bowlers who bowled their full quota of overs.
Ahead of the final clash against SRH, a reporter asked Dhoni how difficult it was to keep Harbhajan out of the game, given he is a senior bowler. Dhoni responded by saying:
“You know, I have a lot of cars and bikes in my house. I don’t ride all at a time. I didn’t feel it was necessary to bowl him, and I didn’t bowl him." [H/t Hindustan Times]
As per Dhoni, the conditions didn't permit him to give the ball to 'Turbanator'. Interestingly, Harbhajan didn't appear in the IPL 2018 final.
#4 Urging Marvel or Warner Bros to make a movie about Virat Kohli-Shikhar Dhawan alledged rift
During India's 2014 tour of Australia, rumors went abuzz about the alleged rift between Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. It came on the back of Dhawan injuring his hand in the practice session ahead of the day's play, giving Kohli just 5-10 minutes to walk out to bat.
The right-hander was eventually dismissed for 1 off 11, which reportedly caused an unrest in the team. However, Dhoni squashed all the speculations and instead offered a funny take on the situation. As per him, the production houses such as Marvel or Warner Bros should pick up the story from the person floating these rumors and make a movie. He said:
"Actually that was the case. Virat used a knife. He stabbed Shikhar, who just recovered out of that then we pushed him to bat. These are all stories. Marvel, maybe Warner Bros or somebody should pick up this and make a nice a movie out of it," Dhoni said, as reported by cricket.com.au. [H/t NDTV]
#5 MS Dhoni's amusing take on the absence of his helicoper shot
Despite India's impressive T20I form leading up to the 2016 Asia Cup, Dhoni was under pressure as a batter.
After the Men in Blue's impressive 69-run victory over Sri Lanka in a bilateral fixture at his hometown, Ranchi, skipper Dhoni was questioned about his lack of big-hitting and reduced usage of helicopter shot. His response surely brought laughter to everyone present in the room. Dhoni said:
"See you cannot fly a helicopter under the ocean or in a submarine. In the same way, you play the helicopter shot to a certain delivery. I can't hit it off a bouncer. May be if I stand on a stool and go for it (laughs). With the current opposition strategy, it's very hard to play that shot." [H/T Scroll]