In his long career, MS Dhoni played mentor to several young cricketers. That could be Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and the list will be incomplete without Deepak Chahar . Yes, the 28-year-old has played a huge role in CSK’s bowling line up. And Chahar feels ‘Mahi Bhai’ was phenomenal in his resurgence during his IPL years.
“It was a long-cherished dream of mine to play under Mahi bhai. I have learnt a lot under his captaincy. I have taken my game to another level under his guidance. He has always backed me. He taught me how to take responsibility. There is no one in my team (CSK) who bowls three overs in the powerplay. I do that. That’s because of Mahi bhai. Bowling the first over for a team is not an easy job. With time, I have improved and learnt how to control the flow of runs, especially in T20s,” Chahar told TimesofIndia.com.
Chahar has taken his game to another level in last couple of years and he has been quite phenomenal for CSK in the power-play overs. Take a couple of performances against KKR and Punjab Kings where he knocked the fight off the opposition in his very opening spells. Well, again it was MSD who has a role to play there as well.
“Mahi bhai has made me a powerplay bowler. He always says ‘you are my powerplay bowler’. He, most of the time, gives me the first over of the match. I have been scolded by him a lot (laughs), but I know those talks and that guidance has benefitted me a lot as well and helped me grow as a bowler. He (Dhoni) knows his players well and he uses them wisely. He knows who is good at the death, who is good in the powerplay and who is good in the middle overs,” he revealed.
