- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
ACE India batter KL Rahul on Tuesday (19) said having someone like Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a mentor for the T20 World Cup gives a sense of calmness in the dressing room and he is looking forward to picking the brains of the former India captain on all things related to cricket.
Dhoni, who recently led Chennai Super Kings to win their fourth Indian Premier League beating Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai, has been picked as the Team India mentor for the mega tournament which kicked off in Oman on Sunday (17).
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India will play their opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai next Sunday (24) and beat England in their first practice game by seven wickets at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on Monday (18). Rahul, who had been in good form in the recent IPL, scored 51 off only 24 balls as India overhauled a challenging target of 189 with an over to spare.
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“None of us are sure that IPL 2021 final was his last game. I do not think, I would love to see MS Dhoni play for a lot more years if he could. Yeah, it was great to see how CSK played in the tournament and they were the most deserving to win it. Obviously, MS Dhoni back with the team feels amazing because we have played under him and we have looked towards him as a mentor even when he was our captain,” Rahul, who competed as Dhoni’s opposite number in Chennai’s games against Punjab Kings in the IPL, said during a Clubhouse session organised by Red Bull on Tuesday.
“We loved having him in the dressing room when he was the captain, we loved the calmness. We have all looked up to him to help us out, to have him here is amazing. This gives us a sense of calmness, I have enjoyed spending time with him in the first two to three days and it has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to chewing his brain about cricket, captaincy and all things cricket,” Rahul said.
Talking about the fitness of MS Dhoni, who turned 40 this year, Rahul said: “I think Dhoni can give any of us stiff competition, he definitely is a guy who can hit the ball furthest, he is very strong and he is good between the wickets. He looks the fittest, it is good fun to have him.”
Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team which won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. Only Rohit Sharma from that team features in the Indian team which is competing in this World Cup.
Speaking about India’s campaign in the upcoming World Cup, Rahul said, “Very excited, obviously, World Cup is a big event and every player looks forward to it and every player is training all year round to play this tournament. The World Cup was supposed to be played last year, but it was pushed and it has given a lot more time to think about the best combination and try and get everything right and make a huge impact and win the tournament. 2019 World Cup semis loss did hurt the team a lot and hopefully, we can use that to push ourselves a lot more and try and win the tournament.”
