MS Dhoni is currently the biggest star in cricket — at least in the eyes of Dwayne Bravo.
Bravo, the star all-rounder for the West Indies cricket team, said in a recent Instagram live chat with Pommie Mbangwa that the former India team captain is cricket’s biggest star right now. As NDTV Sports noted, the topic came up when Bravo was talking about the time he spent playing on the Chennai Super Kings with Dhoni, who he said was a pivotal part of the team’s success.
Bravo enjoyed some of his best seasons alongside Dhoni with CSK after being picked up in the 2011 IPL Auctions, scoring 461 runs with an average of 57 and strike rate of 178 in his first year on the team. The next season, he won the Purple Cap and took the prize for the league’s top wicket-taker again in 2015.
Though he had some memorable seasons with CSK, Bravo said that Dhoni was the force behind the team’s success those years. They won IPL titles together twice, with Dhoni leading CSK to another championship in 2010.
Though Dhoni has been away from the sport for a year — last playing competitively during the 2019 World Cup — Bravo said the former India captain’s impact is still felt on the game.
“Players love MS and it’s an environment and franchise that allows you to be you,” Bravo told Mbangwa about their time together on CSK.
“MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team,” he added. “He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans.”
As NDTV noted, Dhoni has also done well as a rival to Bravo on the international stage, taking over leadership of the Indian team following the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar in 2013 and leading India to a No. 1 overall ranking in Test cricket.
He is likely to make his return to cricket when the IPL resumes — though exactly when that might happen remains unclear. The league is on an indefinite hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, as are most major sports leagues across the globe.
As the Times of India reported, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said they are waiting for the International Cricket Council to make a formal announcement of when the T20 World Cup will be held. Once that is in place, the IPL will be able to move forward, with Patel saying they have earmarked the September-October window for the tournament to likely take place.