JOIN USMS Dhoni is leading a side in a major tournament for the first time after relinquishing India captaincy in limited-overs formats at the start of 2017, and it’s as if he had never been away from the job while leading Chennai Super Kings into the final. The wicketkeeper-batsman opened up about his captaincy and the sadness of not being able to play home matches.
Excerpts.
Once a captain always a captain? I think it’s a responsibility given to you irrespective of your past performance that you have done as a team. Nothing really changes for you. The challenge this year was slightly different to what we faced in the past seven-eight years. The age-group of the boys was definitely a concern as we had to keep them fit because of the frequency of the games. You have to maneuver your resources and you have to look at the bigger picture to make sure that when we come to the business end of the tournament our best XI is available.
On the emotional aspect of leading CSK again: The emotional aspect was more at the start of the tournament. Once the tournament starts you have to be more professional. I was saddened that we couldn’t play our home matches in Chennai but I was still happy that we played at least one match. Our fans waited a very long time for this moment.
On Harbhajan Singh not bowling in the last game: You know I have a lot of cars and bikes in my house. I don’t ride all at a time. There are times especially when you have six to seven bowlers in the side, you want to see the conditions, who is batting and what is needed at that point. If you see the condition and what is best for the team, and then decide who to bowl, who has the best chance against the batsman. Those are the reasons I always keep in mind. It is always tough, in the last game I didn’t feel it was necessary to bowl him, and I didn’t bowl him.