Watch: MS Dhoni's pep talk with the Test team ahead of Windies tour

MS Dhoni is an inspirational figure in Indian cricket. The two-time World Cup winning captain is among one of those influential cricketers who believe in grooming the future generations. He has, in fact, been the man who has helped the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina become the sort of match-winners they are today.

Dhoni no longer plays Test cricket, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t drop his responsibility of motivating the players. He recently appeared in Team India’s bonding sessions and delivered a short heartening speech at the end of it. The team is currently preparing at the National Cricket Academy under the helm of newly appointed coach Anil Kumble for the West Indies tour which will start later this month.

The Indian cricket team members had a unique team bonding session with acclaimed actor-musician Vasundhara Das’s group ‘Drumjam’. All team members including Kumble, the support staff and even the limited overs skipper took part in in the 45-minute fun session.

MS Dhoni kept it simple. His advice to the team members was to enjoy their time in the Caribbean and don’t let the pressure mount of you. He said that the unit now has every essential to be a top Test team and failure should not deter them from expressing themselves.

Also read – 5 Indian players to watch out for on West Indies tour

“Last 2-3 years we were talking about youngsters getting into Test cricket but now we have a set of batsmen who are into the Test arena and a pool of bowlers. We are not talking about two or three or four batsmen, we are talking about a lot of batters and a lot of bowlers. This is the phase that will be very interesting.”

He also had a word of caution for the youngster set out on the tour. “All of you won’t have a very good series, some of you will fail. But with 17 Test matches, all of you will be successful. So, it’s important to enjoy the period which is tough. But till you stick together and till you enjoy as a group, I don’t think there’s anything that can stop you. So, make sure you have a lot of fun. That is something in Indian cricket we often don’t do.”

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Watch: MS Dhoni’s pep talk with the Test team ahead of Windies tour: