"He never wanted the limelight"- S Sreesanth with 'controversial' statement supporting MS Dhoni
Former Indian pacer S Sreesanth made quite a blunt statement about former Indian skipper MS Dhoni and the way the latter is seen in the cricketing fraternity. Some have been vocal about how Dhoni gets most of the credit, citing why it is a team game and cannot be won by an individual.
Comparisons are often drawn between Gautam Gambhir's 97 and Dhoni's 91* in the 2011 World Cup final, with some claiming that the former doesn't get as much credit as Dhoni does. However, Sreesanth explained that the former India captain was never keen on taking the limelight.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Sreesanth had to say about MS Dhoni:
"It will be a bit controversial when I say this. Yes you can say 'Why to talk only about 2-3 players? We also played our part in the win.' But it's just about the way Dhoni thought about the team first all the time. He even started the culture of giving the cup to the newest person in the team. He never wanted the limelight. He always wanted the team to do well."
He further added:
"Yes we won the World Cups because of the hard work of each and every player. But while the ship may have many celebrities on it, the task to take it from one destination to another always is always done by the captain. No matter how much you put a flight on autopilot, you need the pilot."
No one can say that MS Dhoni didn't back them: Sreesanth
Sreesanth understands the frustration of some former cricketers about not being backed enough by MS Dhoni and he accepted that he was also one of them. However in hindsight, he realized that Dhoni had to make some decisions for the betterment of the team.
On this, he stated:
"I also had my differences with Dhoni bhai. But now when I look at cricketing side of things, no one can say that Dhoni didn't back them. There are some situations which made the captain think the other way, and that's how life is."
Dhoni remains the last Indian captain to win an ICC title, with the Men in Blue looking to break their jinx since the 2013 Champions Trophy triumph.