CricTracker Exclusive: 'I think MS Dhoni wants peace in his life now' - Monty Panesar

After MS Dhoni’s retirement announcement on Saturday, the cricketing world went into a complete frenzy. Wishes poured in from all over the world as everyone remembered the good times they had with or because of the retired Indian captain. People shared stories of the time they were with MS or were watching him play and prayed for a great future for him.

Monty Panesar, England’s spin bowler also came out and shared his memories of MS Dhoni, talking about the 2008 India tour among many other things. The veteran England bowler talked about what made Dhoni special and set him apart from his counterparts. He also gave insight into what must be going on in the mind of ‘Captain Cool‘ when he decided to retire, what could be his strategy for IPL 2020, and named his contender to succeed MS Dhoni in an exclusive chat with CricTracker.

Here are the excerpts:

As we all know that MS Dhoni announced his retirement on 15th August. Any memories of him that you would like to share with us to start things off?

MS was always a very calm and quiet cricketer. Even when he used to train, you could hardly even notice that he was there. He always kept his thoughts and plans to himself. Whether it was the media persons or the fans, everyone wanted to know what was Dhoni’s cricketing brain-like.

He had a very high intelligence level in my understanding, like that of a great thinker or a scientist. Even when on the field, he used to maintain his calm and kept the team together. It was his biopic that gave us a great insight into how he thought and what was his thinking process like. Only he knew how to score the runs in a single over that other teams or players would take 15 overs to get to.

When you toured India in 2008, you took Dhoni’s wicket on two occasions. Did you have any special bowling plans for Dhoni?

Whenever Dhoni played, his batting style gave me the confidence that I could take his wicket. By that time I had spun the ball on a couple of occasions by bowling it at a fast speed. So, when MS came on to bat, I applied the same strategy and it worked. I had confidence in my abilities and thankfully I emerged to be successful.

When Dhoni plays, his hands are really quick and he reads the pitching of the delivery quickly too. So, on most occasions, he was able to adapt to whatever little movement the ball made. It was one of his main strengths. He read the situation well and made sure that the team got to a win even in the trickiest of the situations.

In recent years, MS was seen on the field interacting a lot with bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and gave them cues from behind the stumps. How do you think this impacted their performance?

I think there are players with their own playing capabilities but very few of them have leadership capabilities in them. And, I think MS was one of them. He always made sure that the youngsters that he was open to the younger players and adjusted his plans according to their strengths.

Dhoni made the players comfortable in the team and gave them a space to learn and develop. He was great at man-management and there are very few people like him who can read his players’ brains and get the best out of them.

And, when a player like him supports you and gives his inputs in your performance, it helps a lot in terms of developing confidence and making him a big match player. He made sure that none of his players ever felt the pressure of playing in international cricket.

Given that you have spent a lot of time with MS Dhoni on the field while playing against him, was there any time you saw his real emotions trickling down from his brain into his actions. Because we as fans and spectators always saw him as ‘Captain Cool’ and failed to notice anything like this.

There are players who want to play and interact with others at a certain status level. But, it was not the case with MS. He always thought about his team’s performance and how he could make the team cross the finish line successfully. He always thought about the XI players he was playing with.

And, you are right in saying that he was ‘Captain Cool’ because he never projected his thoughts. There are players who project their thoughts in their movements like tightening the grip to hit a big shot and things like that. But, MS stored things in his mind and had his thoughts sorted out. He knew what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do.

This can also be seen in the way he has taken his retirement. There are players who search for the limelight and want a grand farewell. But, MS never demanded such things. In Test matches when he thought it was the right time, he made the call. And, for his ODI retirement too, he chose a very nice day, the Indian Independence Day and announced his retirement quietly with no pomp and show.

Any thoughts on why MS chose this time to retire?

I think MS wants peace in his life now. He has had his share of love and attention from the crowds and fans all over the world and I think that he feels that it is enough for him. Whenever he goes, he is the center of attention. He has always helped others and there is no denying that he has done enough for the sport he played and the players he played with. MS has always put the team before himself and this has made him shed the load of wanting a grand affair to announce his retirement.

What effect do you think this announcement will have on Dhoni’s run in the Indian Premier League this year?

I want him to perform better than he has ever before. I want this season of the IPL to be his best season ever. Maybe if he does extremely well in this season, the BCCI might request him to make a comeback for the T20 World Cup. There is no other keeper of his stature in the Indian team currently.

And, this fact, coupled with his performance in IPL could make the BCCI ask him to make a comeback into the Indian Team for one last time. I personally want something like this to be the story of MS before he quits cricket altogether.

Any performance of MS Dhoni that is close to your heart?

I would like to narrate a personal story here. When I was bowling to him in a Test match in Kolkata, he hit me for a huge six. I believe it was over 100 meters. He hit the ball with so much power that it looked like his shots were played effortlessly and it seemed like for him the boundary was at 100 meters. And, when you experience that first hand, it shows how talented he is as a batsman.

Now that MS is gone, who do you think is capable of taking his legacy forward in the Indian Team?

The first name that pops up in my mind is that of Rishabh Pant. Pant plays a lot like Dhoni and tries hard to emulate him on the field and is capable of being the perfect replacement for him.

But the only problem he has is his temperament. In my opinion, he lacks the mental strength to hold himself together in tough and tricky situations as Dhoni did. But, that can be developed over the years and hopefully, he is able to fill the void that MS has left in Indian cricket.