Greg Chappell hails MS Dhoni as "one of the sharpest cricket minds"

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020. To date, he remains one of the most successful Indian skippers, especially in the limited-overs circuit. He was famous for his sound leadership qualities, while it is something that also impressed former Indian head coach and Australian great Greg Chappell.

Chappell was the Indian coach between 2005-07 and had trained Dhoni at the time, as the latter was just into his initial years into international cricket but was on a fast rise. He hinted that Dhoni had set an example for other young cricketers to get inspired by him, especially in areas where the development structure of the sport is not up to the mark. "In those environments, young cricketers learned from watching good players and then emulating them in pick-up matches with family and friends," he wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

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Referring to Dhoni and his exemplary career, Chappell wrote, "MS Dhoni, with whom I worked in India, is a good example of a batter who developed his talent and learned to play in this fashion. By competing against more experienced individuals on various surfaces early in his development, Dhoni developed the decision-making and strategic skills that set him apart from many of his peers. His is one of the sharpest cricket minds I have encountered."

Under John Wright and Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dhoni made his debut in 2004. However, it can be said that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter began to flourish under Rahul Dravid's leadership and Chappell's guidance. Following India's disastrous ICC World Cup 2007 campaign, he was made India's Twenty20 International (T20I) skipper, and he delivered India the grand prize by winning the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup the same year.